Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) Shares Bought by Creative Planning

Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) by 19.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,892 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,127 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning’s holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust were worth $357,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,377,389 shares of the company’s stock valued at $676,561,000 after acquiring an additional 1,060,079 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,931,196 shares of the company’s stock worth $253,841,000 after purchasing an additional 1,543,346 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,697,079 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,904,000 after purchasing an additional 187,256 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 11.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,575,683 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,372,000 after purchasing an additional 264,052 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,966,304 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,486,000 after purchasing an additional 169,222 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.98% of the company’s stock.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Performance

Essential Properties Realty Trust stock opened at $34.10 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $5.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 4.90, a quick ratio of 4.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $32.21 and a 200-day moving average of $29.13. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.49 and a 52 week high of $34.51.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $109.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $102.99 million. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a net margin of 48.12% and a return on equity of 6.28%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 26.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.41 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 94.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $37.00 target price (up previously from $34.00) on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Essential Properties Realty Trust in a report on Friday, June 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $33.00 target price for the company. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Properties Realty Trust currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.06.

Insider Activity at Essential Properties Realty Trust

In related news, CEO Peter M. Mavoides sold 27,817 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.33, for a total transaction of $899,323.61. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 446,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,421,637.08. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

About Essential Properties Realty Trust

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc, a real estate company, acquires, owns, and manages single-tenant properties in the United States. The company leases its properties to middle-market companies, such as restaurants, car washes, automotive services, medical and dental services, convenience stores, equipment rental, entertainment, early childhood education, grocery, and health and fitness on a long-term basis.