Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Purchases New Position in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 13,474 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $693,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 6.6% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 341,492 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,104,552 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $185,564,000 after purchasing an additional 350,250 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 36.7% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,910,169 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $134,074,000 after purchasing an additional 781,906 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,761,119 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $124,830,000 after acquiring an additional 35,311 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 1.5% in the first quarter. Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC now owns 1,479,756 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $68,172,000 after buying an additional 21,667 shares in the last quarter. 91.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Gaming and Leisure Properties

In other news, Director E Scott Urdang sold 6,885 shares of the business’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 directly owns 149,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,513,968. The trade was a 4.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Desiree A. Burke sold 12,973 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 108,073 shares in the company, valued at $5,621,957.46. The trade was a 10.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 22,858 shares of company stock worth $1,171,377. Insiders own 4.37% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on GLPI shares. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $52.00 target price (up from $51.00) on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $49.00 to $54.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Raymond James raised their price target on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.96.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ GLPI opened at $50.92 on Monday. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a 52 week low of $41.80 and a 52 week high of $52.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 11.35 and a current ratio of 11.35. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $50.56 and its 200 day moving average is $48.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.80, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.99.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.25). Gaming and Leisure Properties had a net margin of 51.93% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The business had revenue of $385.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $385.09 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.92 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 106.29%.

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.