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

Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, May 20th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a dividend of 0.76 per share by the real estate investment trust on Friday, June 21st. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th.

Gaming and Leisure Properties has raised its dividend by an average of 5.8% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 2 consecutive years. Gaming and Leisure Properties has a dividend payout ratio of 102.4% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Research analysts expect Gaming and Leisure Properties to earn $3.72 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 81.7%.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Stock Down 0.5 %

GLPI stock traded down $0.24 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $46.09. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 57,656 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,369,922. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $44.46 and its 200-day moving average is $45.72. 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 has a 12 month low of $41.80 and a 12 month high of $50.59. The company has a market cap of $12.51 billion, a PE ratio of 17.10, a P/E/G ratio of 5.47 and a beta of 0.94.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last announced 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 net margin of 50.05% and a return on equity of 16.79%. The business had revenue of $376.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $368.44 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.92 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Gaming and Leisure Properties will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director E Scott Urdang bought 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $45.00 per share, for a total transaction of $112,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 156,685 shares in the company, valued at $7,050,825. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 4.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank boosted their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Mizuho dropped their price target on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $47.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 10th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $53.00 price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $50.75 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.46.

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.