Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $35.20

Key Points

• Analysts remain bullish on EPRT: Twelve analysts give Essential Properties Realty Trust a consensus “Buy” rating, with an average 12-month price target of $35.20 versus the stock’s $25.89 opening price.
• Institutional ownership is substantial: Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.98% of the company, with BlackRock, Cohen & Steers, Dimensional Fund Advisors and others recently increasing or initiating positions.
• Quarterly results beat expectations and the dividend yields 4.9%: EPRT reported $0.34 in quarterly EPS and $161.89 million in revenue, exceeding estimates, while maintaining a $0.32 quarterly dividend, or $1.28 annually.

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Buy" by the twelve analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $35.20.

EPRT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial started coverage on Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research report on Thursday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $31.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho reduced their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Barclays decreased their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $30.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 24th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essential Properties Realty Trust news, COO Robert M. Jenkins sold 22,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.22, for a total value of $708,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 34,168 shares in the company, valued at $1,100,892.96. This trade represents a 39.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.77% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EPRT. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,183,153,000. Cohen & Steers Inc. grew its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 111.6% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 18,611,967 shares of the company's stock worth $552,031,000 after purchasing an additional 9,816,042 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 6.3% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,101,020 shares of the company's stock worth $94,151,000 after purchasing an additional 184,196 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 3.9% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,771,898 shares of the company's stock worth $84,156,000 after buying an additional 103,311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Essential Properties Realty Trust during the fourth quarter worth approximately $68,467,000. 96.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Performance

Shares of EPRT stock opened at $25.89 on Monday. Essential Properties Realty Trust has a 12 month low of $25.37 and a 12 month high of $34.73. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $29.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.60. The firm has a market cap of $5.60 billion, a PE ratio of 20.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 8.17, a current ratio of 8.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.01. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a net margin of 43.51% and a return on equity of 6.34%. The firm had revenue of $161.89 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $156.65 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Essential Properties Realty Trust has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.010-2.050 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Essential Properties Realty Trust will post 1.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.9%. Essential Properties Realty Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 99.22%.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Company Profile

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc is a real estate investment trust that owns and manages a diversified portfolio of single-tenant commercial properties. The company generally leases its properties to businesses under long-term, triple-net agreements, under which tenants are typically responsible for property taxes, insurance and maintenance expenses.

Essential Properties focuses primarily on service-oriented and experience-based businesses, including automotive services, health and fitness, medical and dental services, restaurants, early childhood education and other businesses that are often less suited to traditional retail real estate.

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