Van ECK Associates Corp Raises Stock Position in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) by 10.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,318 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,166 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust were worth $1,042,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 95.2% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 818 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 74.5% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,096 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 468 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 215.4% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,211 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 827 shares during the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in the 3rd quarter worth $79,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 58.6% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,218 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,000 after buying an additional 1,189 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on EPRT. B. Riley lowered shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $29.50 to $33.50 in a report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price target on the stock. Capital One Financial began coverage on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Scotiabank increased 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, November 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.55.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of EPRT opened at $31.88 on Friday. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.58 and a 12-month high of $34.88. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $31.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a current ratio of 5.36, a quick ratio of 5.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.14. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a net margin of 45.15% and a return on equity of 6.12%. Equities research analysts expect that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.295 per share. This is a boost from Essential Properties Realty Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.70%. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 103.51%.

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.