Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ: GLPI) earned an important index as Standard Poor’s (S P) announced late Friday that the stock will be promoted to the S P MidCap 400 Index.
A slide from a Gaming and Leisure Properties presentation. The stock is joining the S P MidCap 400 Index. (Image: Seeking Alpha)The gaming real estate investment trust (REIT) is one of 10 stocks being elevated to the mid-cap benchmark from the S P SmallCap 600 Index. While there’s some debate, the standard definition of mid-cap equities is those with market values of $2 billion to $10 billion. At today’s close, had a market capitalization of $12.45 billion far too large for the small-cap index.
The changes ensure each index is more representative of its market capitalization range. All companies being added to the S P MidCap 400 are more representative of the mid-cap market space, and all companies being added to the S P SmallCap 600 are more representative of the small-cap market space,” according to S P Dow Jones Indices.
Gaming and Leisure Properties will join the mid-cap index prior to the open of U.S. markets on Monday, Sept. 18.
Why it Matters for GLPI InvestorsWith its inclusion in the S P MidCap 400 Index, GLPI shares will be on the radars of a .
All active fund managers that benchmark to that gauge will need to purchase shares of the slot machine maker. Likewise, passive funds, including exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that follow that index, will also need to add the gaming stock.
Indeed, there are some massive ETFs that track the mid-cap gauge. For example, the SPDR S P MIDCAP 400 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA: MDY) has $19.74 billion in assets under management, while the iShares Core S P Mid-Cap ETF (NYSEARCA: IJH) has $74.67 billion in assets. The Vanguard S P MidCap 400 ETF (NYSEARCA: IVOO) had $1.7 billion in assets as of July 31.
In other gaming-related indexing news, private equity behemoth Blackstone (NYSE: BX), the owner of of several well-known Las Vegas Strip casino resorts, is joining the S P 500.
News Caps Busy Week for GLPINews of the stock’s upcoming inclusion in the S P MidCap 400 Index capped a busy week for Gaming and Leisure. On Tuesday, the REIT announced for the real estate associated with the Hard Rock Casino development in Rockford, Ill.
On Thursday, the company announced it is increasing its quarterly dividend by a penny a share to 73 cents, marking its second payout increase this year. The stock, which is down 8.54% year-to-date, sports a dividend yield of 6.07%.
“The dividend is payable on September 29, 2023 to shareholders of record on September 15, 2023. The third quarter 2022 cash dividend was $0.705 per share of the Company’s common stock,” according to a statement issued by the Pennsylvania-based REIT.
