Blue Trust Inc. Raises Stock Position in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)

Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) by 95.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 818 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust were worth $28,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of EPRT. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 14.0% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 21,813 shares of the company’s stock valued at $582,000 after purchasing an additional 2,681 shares during the last quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 206.7% in the 1st quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC now owns 46,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,226,000 after purchasing an additional 31,000 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 51.0% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 281,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,530,000 after purchasing an additional 94,970 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 409.2% in the 1st quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 241,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,435,000 after purchasing an additional 193,979 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 136,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,770 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $32.00 to $36.25 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Properties Realty Trust currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.06.

Insider Activity at Essential Properties Realty Trust

In related news, CEO Peter M. Mavoides sold 27,817 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.33, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.81% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Performance

NYSE:EPRT opened at $31.64 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 5.59, a current ratio of 5.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.32 and a fifty-two week high of $34.51. The stock has a market cap of $5.55 billion, a PE ratio of 27.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.37. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.72.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.16). Essential Properties Realty Trust had a return on equity of 6.20% and a net margin of 46.00%. The company had revenue of $117.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.73 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.67%. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s payout ratio is 100.87%.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Company Profile

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.