Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) Cut to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI - Free Report) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a report released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $53.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust's stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $53.25 to $57.50 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $49.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Mizuho decreased 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 report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $54.00.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock traded down $0.07 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $46.84. The stock had a trading volume of 1,105,125 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,019,647. Gaming and Leisure Properties has a 12 month low of $41.80 and a 12 month high of $52.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 11.35 and a quick ratio of 11.35. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $49.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.58. The stock has a market cap of $12.85 billion, a PE ratio of 16.38, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.99.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI - Get Free Report) 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 the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.25). Gaming and Leisure Properties had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 51.93%. The firm had revenue of $385.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $385.09 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.92 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Gaming and Leisure Properties will post 3.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.49%. Gaming and Leisure Properties's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 106.29%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director E Scott Urdang sold 6,885 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $7,513,968. The trade was a 4.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Matthew Demchyk sold 1,149 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.80, for a total transaction of $54,922.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 91,620 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,379,436. The trade was a 1.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 15,016 shares of company stock worth $741,943. 4.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Gaming and Leisure Properties

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 9.2% in the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 12,494 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $565,000 after acquiring an additional 1,054 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $230,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 92,646 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,189,000 after purchasing an additional 9,476 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 87,789 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,911,000 after purchasing an additional 584 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,104,552 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $185,564,000 after purchasing an additional 350,250 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.14% of the company's stock.

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.