Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) Stock Rated "Moderate Buy" by Sell-Side Analysts

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment remains positive: Thirteen analysts give Essential Properties Realty Trust a “Moderate Buy” consensus, with ten buys, two holds and one strong buy. The average 12-month price target is $32.96, although several firms recently lowered their targets.
• Institutional ownership is substantial: Hedge funds and institutional investors own approximately 96.98% of EPRT’s shares, with BlackRock initiating a stake valued at about $1.18 billion.
• Revenue grew but earnings missed expectations: Quarterly revenue increased 15.5% year over year to $168.67 million, while EPS of $0.27 fell short of the $0.33 consensus estimate. The company also declared a $0.32 quarterly dividend, representing a 4.8% annualized yield.

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT - Get Free Report) has been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the thirteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $32.96.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $32.50 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $37.00 price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $30.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 19th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 20th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essential Properties Realty Trust

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust during the second quarter worth about $1,183,153,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 6.3% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,101,020 shares of the company's stock worth $94,151,000 after acquiring an additional 184,196 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 3.9% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,771,898 shares of the company's stock worth $84,156,000 after acquiring an additional 103,311 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Essential Properties Realty Trust in the second quarter valued at about $52,056,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Essential Properties Realty Trust in the second quarter valued at about $51,164,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.98% of the company's stock.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust stock opened at $26.68 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 4.94 and a quick ratio of 4.94. Essential Properties Realty Trust has a 1 year low of $24.62 and a 1 year high of $34.73. The company has a market capitalization of $5.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $27.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.47.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $168.67 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $158.17 million. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a net margin of 41.03% and a return on equity of 5.95%. Essential Properties Realty Trust's quarterly revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.48 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Essential Properties Realty Trust will post 1.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.8%. Essential Properties Realty Trust's payout ratio is 104.07%.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Company Profile

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc NYSE: EPRT is an internally managed real estate investment trust that acquires, owns and manages single-tenant commercial properties. The company primarily leases these properties to middle-market businesses under long-term, net lease agreements, which generally require tenants to pay a substantial portion of the property's operating expenses, including taxes, insurance and maintenance.

EPRT's portfolio is diversified across businesses such as automotive services, medical services, restaurants, retail, early childhood education and other service-oriented industries.

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