Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) Price Target Cut to $56.00 by Analysts at Royal Bank of Canada

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) had its price target trimmed by Royal Bank of Canada from $57.00 to $56.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on GLPI. Scotiabank cut their price target on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $49.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $52.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $53.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Gaming and Leisure Properties currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.15.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Stock Performance

Shares of GLPI opened at $48.85 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 11.35 and a current ratio of 11.35. Gaming and Leisure Properties has a 1 year low of $41.80 and a 1 year high of $52.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.40 billion, a PE ratio of 17.02, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.99.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. Gaming and Leisure Properties had a net margin of 51.65% and a return on equity of 17.41%. The company had revenue of $389.62 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $391.54 million. On average, analysts predict that Gaming and Leisure Properties will post 3.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio is presently 105.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Matthew Demchyk sold 17,617 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.40, for a total transaction of $870,279.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 54,140 shares in the company, valued at $2,674,516. This represents a 24.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Brandon John Moore sold 3,982 shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.84, for a total transaction of $190,498.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 278,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,329,850.56. This trade represents a 1.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 33,222 shares of company stock valued at $1,624,947. 4.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 36,869 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,776,000 after purchasing an additional 905 shares in the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $240,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,371,000. Novem Group acquired a new position in Gaming and Leisure Properties during the fourth quarter worth $786,000. Finally, Sophron Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in Gaming and Leisure Properties in the fourth quarter worth $1,030,000. 91.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Gaming and Leisure Properties

Gaming & Leisure Properties, Inc engages in acquiring, financing, and owning real estate property to be leased to gaming operators in triple-net lease arrangements. The company was founded on February 13, 2013 and is headquartered in Wyomissing, PA.