Clearbridge Investments LLC Purchases 58,051 Shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) by 13.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 482,072 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 58,051 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned 0.18% of Gaming and Leisure Properties worth $23,790,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GLPI. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties during the fourth quarter worth about $141,537,000. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 54.8% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,378,874 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $166,747,000 after acquiring an additional 1,195,765 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 54.6% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,301,293 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $150,374,000 after acquiring an additional 1,165,459 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 30.2% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,397,529 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $109,207,000 after acquiring an additional 555,474 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 1.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,572,599 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,711,432,000 after acquiring an additional 555,332 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $50.75 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. StockNews.com cut Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $49.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.46.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of GLPI opened at $44.50 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $44.43 and a 200 day moving average of $45.71. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $41.80 and a fifty-two week high of $50.59. The firm has a market cap of $12.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.37 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 6.47 and a current ratio of 6.47.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.26). Gaming and Leisure Properties had a return on equity of 16.79% and a net margin of 50.05%. The firm had revenue of $376.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $368.44 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.92 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. will post 3.66 EPS for the current year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 21st. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 112.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director E Scott Urdang bought 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $45.00 per share, for a total transaction of $112,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 156,685 shares in the company, valued at $7,050,825. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 4.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Profile

GLPI is engaged in the business of acquiring, financing, and owning real estate property to be leased to gaming operators in triple-net lease arrangements, pursuant to which the tenant is responsible for all facility maintenance, insurance required in connection with the leased properties and the business conducted on the leased properties, taxes levied on or with respect to the leased properties and all utilities and other services necessary or appropriate for the leased properties and the business conducted on the leased properties.