Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) Stock

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) had its target price lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $50.00 to $51.00 in a research report report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on GLPI. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $53.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Mizuho lowered their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $49.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.96.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GLPI opened at $49.75 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 11.35 and a current ratio of 11.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $48.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.81. Gaming and Leisure Properties has a fifty-two week low of $41.80 and a fifty-two week high of $52.60. The firm has a market cap of $13.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.00.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $389.62 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $391.54 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.11%. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s payout ratio is currently 105.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gaming and Leisure Properties news, COO Brandon John Moore sold 3,982 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.84, for a total value of $190,498.88. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 278,634 shares in the company, valued at $13,329,850.56. This represents a 1.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director E Scott Urdang sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.89, for a total transaction of $254,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 140,953 shares in the company, valued at $7,173,098.17. This represents a 3.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,064 shares of company stock worth $2,778,908 over the last three months. Company insiders own 4.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gaming and Leisure Properties

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 106.2% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 44,745 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,155,000 after buying an additional 23,050 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties in the 3rd quarter worth about $693,000. Aew Capital Management L P lifted its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 1,786.5% in the 4th quarter. Aew Capital Management L P now owns 761,600 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,679,000 after purchasing an additional 721,230 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 152,426 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,341,000 after purchasing an additional 5,127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 76.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 32,316 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,646,000 after acquiring an additional 13,965 shares in the last quarter. 91.14% of the stock is 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.