Royal Bank of Canada Cuts Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) Price Target to $56.00

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) had its target price reduced by Royal Bank of Canada from $57.00 to $56.00 in a research note released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on GLPI. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $49.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com cut Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley cut Gaming and Leisure Properties from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $53.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $54.53 price objective on the stock. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.15.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Stock Up 0.6 %

GLPI opened at $49.80 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $13.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.99. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $48.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.77. The company has a current ratio of 11.35, a quick ratio of 11.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. Gaming and Leisure Properties has a 12 month low of $41.80 and a 12 month high of $52.60.

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

Gaming and Leisure Properties Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 105.92%.

Insider Activity

In other Gaming and Leisure Properties news, SVP Matthew Demchyk sold 1,149 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.80, for a total value of $54,922.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 91,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,379,436. This represents a 1.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director E Scott Urdang sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.72, for a total transaction of $248,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 145,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,256,783.16. The trade was a 3.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,222 shares of company stock valued at $1,873,547 over the last ninety days. 4.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 36,869 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,776,000 after purchasing an additional 905 shares during the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties in the 4th quarter valued at about $240,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,371,000. Novem Group acquired a new stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties in the 4th quarter valued at about $786,000. Finally, Sophron Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,030,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.14% of the company’s stock.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Company Profile

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.