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

Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 21st, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid 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 6.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th.

Gaming and Leisure Properties has raised its dividend by an average of 4.1% per year over the last three years. Gaming and Leisure Properties has a payout ratio of 95.5% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings tumble. Equities research 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 $2.96 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 74.4%.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GLPI opened at $49.11 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $48.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 11.35 and a quick ratio of 11.35. The stock has a market cap of $13.47 billion, a PE ratio of 17.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.99. Gaming and Leisure Properties has a 1 year low of $41.80 and a 1 year high of $52.60.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $389.62 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $391.54 million. Gaming and Leisure Properties had a net margin of 51.65% and a return on equity of 17.41%. Equities analysts anticipate that Gaming and Leisure Properties will post 3.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gaming and Leisure Properties news, COO Brandon John Moore sold 3,982 shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.84, for a total value of $190,498.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 278,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,329,850.56. This trade represents a 1.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Matthew Demchyk sold 17,617 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.40, for a total transaction of $870,279.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 54,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,674,516. This trade represents a 24.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,222 shares of company stock valued at $1,624,947 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 4.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on GLPI shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $53.25 to $57.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $54.53 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $53.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $49.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.93.

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.