Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) Reaches New 1-Year High at $33.74

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $33.74 and last traded at $33.69, with a volume of 525165 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $33.16.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on EPRT. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research report on Friday, June 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $33.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $31.25 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Wedbush started coverage on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research report on Monday, August 19th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $34.00 price target on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Properties Realty Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.81.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Up 1.4 %

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.90 billion, a PE ratio of 27.47, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 4.90 and a current ratio of 4.90.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.13). Essential Properties Realty Trust had a return on equity of 6.28% and a net margin of 48.12%. The business had revenue of $109.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $102.99 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.41 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 26.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s payout ratio is 94.31%.

Insider Activity at Essential Properties Realty Trust

In other Essential Properties Realty Trust news, CEO Peter M. Mavoides sold 20,863 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.54, for a total value of $574,567.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 514,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,168,338.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Essential Properties Realty Trust news, CEO Peter M. Mavoides sold 20,863 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.54, for a total transaction of $574,567.02. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 514,464 shares in the company, valued at $14,168,338.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Peter M. Mavoides sold 12,712 shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.03, for a total value of $356,317.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 500,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,030,472.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 62,592 shares of company stock valued at $1,863,808 over the last three months. 0.81% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EPRT. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 4.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,377,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $676,561,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060,079 shares during the last quarter. Hazelview Securities Inc. boosted its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 112.9% during the first quarter. Hazelview Securities Inc. now owns 867,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,731,000 after buying an additional 460,065 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 51.0% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 281,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,530,000 after acquiring an additional 94,970 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC now owns 1,048,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,794,000 after purchasing an additional 56,990 shares during the period. 96.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.