Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR) Stock Price

EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR) had its price objective hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $45.00 to $52.00 in a research note published on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an underweight rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on EPR Properties from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of EPR Properties in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of EPR Properties from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.13.

EPR Properties Price Performance

EPR Properties stock opened at $52.70 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 7.81, a quick ratio of 7.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.81 and a beta of 1.72. The business has a 50-day moving average of $47.96 and a 200-day moving average of $47.01. EPR Properties has a 1 year low of $39.65 and a 1 year high of $54.25.

EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.56. The firm had revenue of $149.12 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $161.25 million. EPR Properties had a net margin of 28.87% and a return on equity of 8.22%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that EPR Properties will post 4.65 EPS for the current year.

EPR Properties Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. This is a boost from EPR Properties’s previous monthly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.72%. EPR Properties’s dividend payout ratio is presently 221.25%.

Insider Activity at EPR Properties

In other news, SVP Gwendolyn Mary Johnson sold 3,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.02, for a total transaction of $210,678.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,216 shares in the company, valued at $443,828.32. This represents a 32.19 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of EPR Properties

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in EPR Properties by 12.3% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 12,937 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $611,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its stake in shares of EPR Properties by 31.6% in the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 41,674 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,044,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in EPR Properties by 19.0% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 302,130 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $14,816,000 after buying an additional 48,229 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in EPR Properties by 42.3% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,474 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 438 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versor Investments LP raised its position in EPR Properties by 43.1% during the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 18,600 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $912,000 after acquiring an additional 5,600 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.66% of the company’s stock.

About EPR Properties

EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR) is the leading diversified experiential net lease real estate investment trust (REIT), specializing in select enduring experiential properties in the real estate industry. We focus on real estate venues that create value by facilitating out of home leisure and recreation experiences where consumers choose to spend their discretionary time and money.