Brokerages Set Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) Target Price at $51.21

Shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $51.21.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on GLPI shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $52.00 to $52.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $47.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $53.00 price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research report on Friday, June 21st. StockNews.com raised shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Stock Performance

NASDAQ GLPI opened at $49.34 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.38. Gaming and Leisure Properties has a 12-month low of $41.80 and a 12-month high of $50.74. The firm has a market cap of $13.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.21, a PEG ratio of 5.14 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 5.91, a current ratio of 5.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.15). Gaming and Leisure Properties had a net margin of 52.79% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The company had revenue of $380.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $377.95 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.92 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Gaming and Leisure Properties will post 3.67 EPS for the current year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.16%. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.18%.

Institutional Trading of Gaming and Leisure Properties

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,104,552 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $185,564,000 after purchasing an additional 350,250 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in Gaming and Leisure Properties in the second quarter worth $662,000. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC lifted its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 12.8% during the second quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 1,130,526 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $51,111,000 after buying an additional 128,529 shares during the period. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties during the 2nd quarter valued at $742,000. Finally, Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 17.1% during the 2nd quarter. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 43,086 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,948,000 after buying an additional 6,302 shares in the last quarter. 91.14% of the stock is 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.