Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.76

Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 13th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of 0.76 per share by the real estate investment trust on Friday, March 28th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th.

Gaming and Leisure Properties has increased its dividend by an average of 4.1% annually over the last three years. Gaming and Leisure Properties has a payout ratio of 100.0% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings tumble. Equities analysts expect Gaming and Leisure Properties to earn $3.98 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.04 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 76.4%.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GLPI opened at $50.67 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.93 billion, a PE ratio of 17.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 11.35, a quick ratio of 11.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. Gaming and Leisure Properties has a 12-month low of $41.80 and a 12-month high of $52.60. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.81.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $389.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $391.54 million. Gaming and Leisure Properties had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 51.65%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Gaming and Leisure Properties will post 3.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Scotiabank decreased their price target on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $49.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.96.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Matthew Demchyk sold 1,138 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.45, for a total transaction of $57,412.10. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 53,002 shares in the company, valued at $2,673,950.90. This trade represents a 2.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Brandon John Moore sold 3,982 shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.84, for a total transaction of $190,498.88. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 278,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,329,850.56. The trade was a 1.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 56,064 shares of company stock valued at $2,778,908. 4.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.