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

Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, November 25th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of 0.76 per share by the real estate investment trust on Friday, December 20th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th.

Gaming and Leisure Properties has raised its dividend by an average of 5.8% per year over the last three years. Gaming and Leisure Properties has a dividend payout ratio of 101.7% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities research analysts expect Gaming and Leisure Properties to earn $3.80 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 80.0%.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Trading Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ:GLPI traded up $0.49 on Wednesday, reaching $51.66. The stock had a trading volume of 737,014 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,311,664. The company has a market cap of $14.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.99. Gaming and Leisure Properties has a 12-month low of $41.80 and a 12-month high of $52.60. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $50.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.56.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last announced 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). The firm had revenue of $385.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $385.09 million. Gaming and Leisure Properties had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 51.93%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.92 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Gaming and Leisure Properties will post 3.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated 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. 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 report on Tuesday. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, August 23rd. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $52.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Gaming and Leisure Properties has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gaming and Leisure Properties news, CFO Desiree A. Burke sold 12,973 shares of the company’s 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 directly owns 108,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,621,957.46. This represents a 10.72 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director E Scott Urdang sold 3,000 shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.39, for a total value of $151,170.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 146,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,397,252. The trade was a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 22,858 shares of company stock worth $1,171,377 in the last 90 days. 4.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.