Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 844,429 Shares of VICI Properties Inc. $VICI

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its position in VICI Properties Inc. (NYSE:VICI) by 3.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 21,589,046 shares of the company’s stock after selling 844,429 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in VICI Properties were worth $704,019,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in VICI Properties by 1.2% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 156,015,244 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,086,097,000 after acquiring an additional 1,849,545 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of VICI Properties by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 59,694,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,970,935,000 after purchasing an additional 1,204,476 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in VICI Properties by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 34,618,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,144,400,000 after buying an additional 2,281,688 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in shares of VICI Properties by 7.5% during the second quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 25,049,606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $816,617,000 after purchasing an additional 1,755,385 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of VICI Properties by 11.9% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 21,811,143 shares of the company’s stock valued at $711,043,000 after purchasing an additional 2,326,747 shares during the last quarter. 97.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on VICI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of VICI Properties from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 28th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $32.00 price target (down from $36.00) on shares of VICI Properties in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and set a $32.00 price objective (down previously from $36.00) on shares of VICI Properties in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Barclays lowered their target price on VICI Properties from $37.00 to $33.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of VICI Properties in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.85.

VICI Properties Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of VICI stock opened at $28.07 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $28.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.70. VICI Properties Inc. has a one year low of $27.48 and a one year high of $34.03. The company has a market capitalization of $30.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.71, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 3.60 and a quick ratio of 3.60.

VICI Properties (NYSE:VICI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1 billion. VICI Properties had a return on equity of 10.17% and a net margin of 70.18%.The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.57 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that VICI Properties Inc. will post 2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

VICI Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 17th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 17th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.4%. VICI Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.70%.

VICI Properties Company Profile

VICI Properties (NYSE: VICI) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that specializes in experiential real estate, with a primary focus on gaming, hospitality and entertainment assets. The company acquires, owns and manages a portfolio of destination properties and leases those assets to operators under long-term agreements, generating rental income and partnering on property development and capital projects. VICI was formed in connection with the restructuring of Caesars Entertainment and has since grown through acquisitions and strategic transactions to expand its footprint in the gaming and leisure sector.

The company’s portfolio is concentrated in major U.S.