HighTower Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. by 0.6% in Q1, still holding approximately $86.70 million worth of shares as of the latest SEC filing.
• Gaming and Leisure Properties reported a quarterly earnings miss with $0.96 earnings per share, slightly below analysts' expectations, and a revenue increase of 3.8% year-over-year.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.78, representing a 6.8% dividend yield, despite a high dividend payout ratio of 120.93%.

HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI - Free Report) by 0.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,703,392 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 9,519 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned about 0.62% of Gaming and Leisure Properties worth $86,703,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties during the 1st quarter valued at $151,723,000. Cooper Financial Group increased its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 13,827 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $704,000 after purchasing an additional 1,465 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 127.7% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,512,234 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $229,673,000 after purchasing an additional 2,530,463 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties during the 1st quarter valued at $1,450,000. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 5,776 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $294,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $53.00 to $48.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 28th. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $49.00 to $48.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 12th. Wedbush set a $55.00 price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Macquarie cut their price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $60.00 to $59.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 28th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gaming and Leisure Properties has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $53.16.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gaming and Leisure Properties

In related news, Director E Scott Urdang sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.58, for a total value of $186,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 136,953 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,379,270.74. This represents a 2.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 4.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:GLPI traded up $0.30 on Friday, hitting $46.20. 1,495,750 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,817,239. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a 52 week low of $44.48 and a 52 week high of $52.60. The company has a quick ratio of 7.39, a current ratio of 7.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.90. The company has a market cap of $13.08 billion, a PE ratio of 17.91, a PEG ratio of 9.98 and a beta of 0.71.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.01). Gaming and Leisure Properties had a return on equity of 15.43% and a net margin of 46.32%. The business had revenue of $394.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $397.27 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. Gaming and Leisure Properties's quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. will post 3.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Company Profile

Gaming & Leisure Properties, Inc engages in the provision of 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.