Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) Short Interest Update

Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,720,000 shares, an increase of 5.1% from the September 30th total of 4,490,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,240,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.8 days.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Stock Performance

Shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock traded down $0.38 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $50.40. 343,521 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,311,762. Gaming and Leisure Properties has a one year low of $41.80 and a one year high of $52.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.74, a P/E/G ratio of 5.82 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 5.91, a current ratio of 5.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $51.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.62.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last released its earnings results 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 17.60% and a net margin of 52.79%. The firm had revenue of $385.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $385.09 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.92 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Gaming and Leisure Properties will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.03%. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio is presently 112.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on GLPI shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $52.00 to $52.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gaming and Leisure Properties presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.18.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Desiree A. Burke sold 12,973 shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.02, for a total value of $674,855.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 108,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,621,957.46. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CFO Desiree A. Burke sold 12,973 shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.02, for a total value of $674,855.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 108,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,621,957.46. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director E Scott Urdang sold 6,885 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.16, for a total transaction of $345,351.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 149,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,513,968. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,363 shares of company stock valued at $2,840,781 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Gaming and Leisure Properties

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 36.7% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,910,169 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $134,074,000 after purchasing an additional 781,906 shares during the last quarter. DigitalBridge Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in the second quarter valued at approximately $16,936,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 9.3% in the second 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 buying an additional 350,250 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 6.6% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,534,033 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $284,726,000 after buying an additional 341,492 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 126.3% during the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 454,732 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $20,131,000 after purchasing an additional 253,763 shares in the last quarter. 91.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.