Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Increases Position in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) by 1.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 233,690 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,057 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp owned 0.09% of Gaming and Leisure Properties worth $10,766,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GLPI. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 40.8% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,709,300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $627,204,000 after acquiring an additional 3,684,553 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in the fourth quarter worth $141,537,000. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 54.8% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,378,874 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $166,747,000 after acquiring an additional 1,195,765 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 1.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,572,599 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,711,432,000 after acquiring an additional 555,332 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC grew its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 3.1% during the 4th 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.14% of the company’s stock.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Stock Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ GLPI traded up $0.61 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $47.41. 83,558 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,297,761. The company has a 50 day moving average of $44.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $45.24. The company has a current ratio of 6.47, a quick ratio of 6.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a 12 month low of $41.80 and a 12 month high of $50.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.87 billion, a PE ratio of 17.27, a PEG ratio of 5.31 and a beta of 0.98.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.26). Gaming and Leisure Properties had a return on equity of 16.79% and a net margin of 50.05%. The business had revenue of $376.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $368.44 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.92 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. will post 3.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.41%. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GLPI. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a report on Friday, May 17th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $53.00 price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a report on Friday, June 21st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $50.75 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.18.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Profile

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.