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

Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,480,000 shares, a decline of 8.4% from the August 31st total of 4,890,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,320,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director E Scott Urdang sold 5,605 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.89, for a total transaction of $274,028.45. Following the sale, the director now owns 156,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,660,329.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Gaming and Leisure Properties news, Director E Scott Urdang sold 5,605 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.89, for a total transaction of $274,028.45. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 156,685 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,660,329.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Brandon John Moore sold 30,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.05, for a total transaction of $1,546,545.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 208,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,459,298.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,478 shares of company stock valued at $2,495,429 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of 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 valued at $627,204,000 after acquiring an additional 3,684,553 shares during the last quarter. Putnam Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 9,511,521 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $469,394,000 after purchasing an additional 282,828 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 4.0% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,489,160 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $252,886,000 after purchasing an additional 211,709 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake 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 during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 36.7% in the 1st 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 buying an additional 781,906 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on GLPI shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target 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. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $53.00 price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $52.00 target price (up previously from $51.00) on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, JMP Securities increased their price target on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.18.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GLPI traded down $0.31 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $51.14. The company had a trading volume of 1,148,250 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,331,315. The firm has a market cap of $13.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.87, a PEG ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 0.99. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.79. Gaming and Leisure Properties has a one year low of $41.80 and a one year high of $52.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 5.91 and a current ratio of 5.91.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.15). Gaming and Leisure Properties had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 52.79%. The firm had revenue of $380.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $377.95 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.92 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Gaming and Leisure Properties will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.18%.

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.