Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft Upgrades Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) to “Buy”

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm presently has a $54.00 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their prior target price of $49.00. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 6.61% from the stock’s current price.

GLPI has been the subject of a number of other reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $52.00 to $52.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Wolfe Research raised shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $52.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.96.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of GLPI opened at $50.65 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 11.35 and a quick 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.35. The firm has a market cap of $13.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.99.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.25). Gaming and Leisure Properties had a net margin of 51.93% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The company had revenue of $385.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $385.09 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.92 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Gaming and Leisure Properties will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gaming and Leisure Properties news, CFO Desiree A. Burke sold 12,973 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.02, for a total value of $674,855.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,621,957.46. The trade was a 10.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director E Scott Urdang sold 6,885 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.16, for a total transaction of $345,351.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 149,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,513,968. This represents a 4.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 22,858 shares of company stock worth $1,171,377. 4.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gaming and Leisure Properties

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties during the first quarter worth about $2,396,000. Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 1.5% during the first quarter. Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC now owns 1,479,756 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $68,172,000 after acquiring an additional 21,667 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties during the second quarter worth about $3,165,000. Caxton Associates LP grew its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 72.5% during the first quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 24,282 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,119,000 after acquiring an additional 10,209 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 5.0% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 239,225 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $11,020,000 after acquiring an additional 11,387 shares during the last quarter. 91.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Gaming and Leisure Properties

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.