Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) Hits New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $34.61 and last traded at $34.50, with a volume of 46805 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $33.96.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on EPRT shares. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $32.00 to $36.25 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Truist Financial raised 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. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essential Properties Realty Trust currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.44.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Trading Up 1.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 5.59 and a current ratio of 5.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.83, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.61.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last released 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). The firm had revenue of $117.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.73 million. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a net margin of 46.00% and a return on equity of 6.20%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Peter M. Mavoides sold 27,817 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 446,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,421,637.08. This trade represents a 5.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essential Properties Realty Trust

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp increased its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 1.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,033,209 shares of the company’s stock worth $345,535,000 after buying an additional 96,615 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,468,922 shares of the company’s stock worth $152,642,000 after acquiring an additional 118,927 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,138,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,336,000 after acquiring an additional 76,475 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,829,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,637,000 after acquiring an additional 141,612 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,575,683 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,372,000 after acquiring an additional 264,052 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.98% 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.