Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) saw a large drop in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,800,000 shares, a drop of 5.3% from the March 31st total of 5,070,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,420,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.4 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $53.00 price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $49.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gaming and Leisure Properties currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.91.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GLPI opened at $43.13 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $44.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.82. The company has a quick ratio of 6.47, a current ratio of 6.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The company has a market cap of $11.71 billion, a PE ratio of 15.92, a PEG ratio of 5.40 and a beta of 0.94. Gaming and Leisure Properties has a 52-week low of $41.80 and a 52-week high of $51.91.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.26). The company had revenue of $376.00 million for 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 business’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.92 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Gaming and Leisure Properties will post 3.66 EPS for the current year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Gaming and Leisure Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Gaming and Leisure Properties news, Director E Scott Urdang purchased 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $45.00 per share, for a total transaction of $112,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 156,685 shares in the company, valued at $7,050,825. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 4.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gaming and Leisure Properties

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GLPI. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 40.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,709,300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $627,204,000 after purchasing an additional 3,684,553 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in the 4th quarter worth approximately $141,537,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 78.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,906,793 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $132,404,000 after purchasing an additional 1,278,566 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 54.8% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,378,874 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $166,747,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195,765 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,771,108 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $399,523,000 after purchasing an additional 1,188,397 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.14% of the company’s stock.

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.