Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 2,356,265 Shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) by 88.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 298,576 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,356,265 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.17% of Essential Properties Realty Trust worth $10,189,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EPRT. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 16.1% in the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 74,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,528,000 after buying an additional 10,242 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 7.2% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 374,217 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,780,000 after acquiring an additional 25,289 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 12.3% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 30,152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,022,000 after purchasing an additional 3,309 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 8.2% in the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 7,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $269,000 after purchasing an additional 597 shares during the period. Finally, abrdn plc lifted its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 35,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,199,000 after purchasing an additional 2,990 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.98% of the company’s stock.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Trading Up 1.6 %

EPRT stock opened at $33.39 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $33.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 5.59 and a quick ratio of 5.59. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.10 and a fifty-two week high of $34.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.37.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.16). Essential Properties Realty Trust had a net margin of 46.00% and a return on equity of 6.20%. The business had revenue of $117.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.73 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 27.8% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Essential Properties Realty Trust news, CEO Peter M. Mavoides sold 27,817 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were 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 owns 446,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,421,637.08. The trade was a 5.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on EPRT shares. Truist Financial lifted their price target on 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. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. UBS Group raised their price objective on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $32.00 to $36.25 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.37.

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.