VICI Properties Benefits From Buyers Adding Casino Stocks

Gaming resorts real estate investment trust (REIT) VICI Properties Inc. VICI gained 4.25% last week as casino stocks like Wynn Resorts Ltd. WYNN and Las Vegas Sands Corp. LVS rallied. 

VICI owns 49 gaming facilities across the United States that have a total of 124 million square feet and 59,300 hotel rooms.

The real estate investment trust has a portfolio of name-brand resort spots, including Caesars Atlantic City Hotel & Casino, Caesars Palace Las Vegas Hotel and Casino, The Venetian Resort Las Vegas, Harrah's Lake Tahoe Hotel & Casino in Stateline, Nevada, and Horseshoe Bossier City Hotel & Casino in Bossier City, Louisiana.

VICI Properties also owns four championship golf courses, including Cascata Golf Club southeast of Las Vegas and Grand Bear Resort at Starved Rock near Harrah’s Gulf Coast casino in Biloxi, Mississippi. 

The REIT has a market capitalization of $33.93 billion, on the mid- to-large side for the sector. It trades with a price-AFFO multiple of 17.10x. Over the last 12 months, funds from operations increased by 0.7%, and the record for the past five years is 8.67%.

VICI Properties is actively traded with an average daily volume of 5.98 million shares and a short float of 3.44%. The company is paying a dividend of 4.71%.

Earlier this month Raymond James downgraded the REIT from Strong Buy to Outperform and reduced its price target from $38 to $36. Some Wall Street analysts are concerned that a potential recession could negatively affect the consumer discretionary sector.

The weekly price chart for VICI Properties looks like this:

This real estate investment trust has trended upward — with occasional dips — since its March 2020 pandemic scare lows. 

For comparison’s sake, here’s the weekly chart for the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund XLRE, which represents a diverse group of the larger REITs and is a general benchmark for the sector:

A close examination of the two charts reveals how much better VICI Properties has performed than the REIT group as a whole.

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