First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Raises Holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) by 8.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,890 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 597 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust were worth $269,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of EPRT. Asset Dedication LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 95.2% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 818 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 611.3% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 1,027 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 122.9% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,244 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 686 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 116.4% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,945 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 1,046 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.98% of the company’s stock.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Performance

EPRT opened at $31.71 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $32.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.56 billion, a PE ratio of 27.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 5.59, a quick ratio of 5.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $22.32 and a 12-month high of $34.51.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $117.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.73 million. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a return on equity of 6.20% and a net margin of 46.00%. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.42 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s payout ratio is presently 100.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Peter M. Mavoides sold 27,817 shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 446,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,421,637.08. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on EPRT. Wedbush started coverage on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research report on Monday, August 19th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $34.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on 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. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $32.00 to $36.25 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.83.

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.