StockNews.com Upgrades Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) to “Buy”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $49.00 to $48.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. JMP Securities restated a market outperform rating and set a $53.00 price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a report on Monday, June 17th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $49.00 to $47.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. Wedbush reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $51.00 target price on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $50.75 to $51.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gaming and Leisure Properties currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $50.18.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Stock Performance

Shares of GLPI opened at $44.61 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.11 billion, a PE ratio of 16.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 0.98. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $44.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 6.47 and a quick ratio of 6.47. Gaming and Leisure Properties has a 12-month low of $41.80 and a 12-month high of $50.06.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.26). The firm had revenue of $376.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $368.44 million. Gaming and Leisure Properties had a return on equity of 16.79% and a net margin of 50.05%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.92 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Gaming and Leisure Properties will post 3.65 EPS for the current year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.81%. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.18%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GLPI. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 1.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,572,599 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,711,432,000 after purchasing an additional 555,332 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 40.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,709,300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $627,204,000 after buying an additional 3,684,553 shares in the last quarter. Putnam Investments LLC raised its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 9,511,521 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $469,394,000 after buying an additional 282,828 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,921,163 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $440,259,000 after acquiring an additional 150,055 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 4.0% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,489,160 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $252,886,000 after acquiring an additional 211,709 shares during the period. 91.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Company 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.