Renaissance Group LLC Makes New $208,000 Investment in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

Renaissance Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 4,206 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GLPI. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 17,844 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $881,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 16,949 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $836,000 after acquiring an additional 1,247 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 482,072 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $23,790,000 after acquiring an additional 58,051 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 224,799 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $11,094,000 after acquiring an additional 6,351 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 14,843 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $733,000 after acquiring an additional 1,605 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gaming and Leisure Properties

In related news, Director E Scott Urdang purchased 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $45.00 per share, with a total value of $112,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 156,685 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,050,825. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 4.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on GLPI. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $50.75 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $47.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $49.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.46.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GLPI traded down $0.23 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $46.10. 48,921 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,369,799. The company has a quick ratio of 6.47, a current ratio of 6.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a 1 year low of $41.80 and a 1 year high of $50.59. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.10, a P/E/G ratio of 5.47 and a beta of 0.94.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.26). The business had revenue of $376.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $368.44 million. Gaming and Leisure Properties had a net margin of 50.05% and a return on equity of 16.79%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.92 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.59%. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s payout ratio is currently 112.18%.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Company Profile

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.