Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) Increases Dividend to $0.30 Per Share

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, June 2nd, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of 0.30 per share on Monday, July 14th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This is a 1.7% increase from Essential Properties Realty Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30.

Essential Properties Realty Trust has raised its dividend by an average of 5.1% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 6 consecutive years. Essential Properties Realty Trust has a payout ratio of 88.1% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company's earnings decline. Research analysts expect Essential Properties Realty Trust to earn $1.98 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.18 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 59.6%.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Price Performance

Shares of EPRT stock traded down $0.75 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $32.20. The company had a trading volume of 1,761,034 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,452,592. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 5.36 and a current ratio of 5.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.09. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $31.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.94. Essential Properties Realty Trust has a one year low of $26.75 and a one year high of $34.88.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $129.35 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $124.88 million. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a net margin of 45.15% and a return on equity of 6.12%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 24.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Essential Properties Realty Trust will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EPRT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $40.00 to $37.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $37.00 price target (up from $35.00) on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Capital One Financial started coverage on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $35.00 price target for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $34.91.

Institutional Trading of Essential Properties Realty Trust

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EPRT. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 16.4% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,387,218 shares of the company's stock worth $45,279,000 after purchasing an additional 195,057 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 159.4% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 74,147 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,420,000 after acquiring an additional 45,561 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in Essential Properties Realty Trust in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,350,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 21.8% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 22,244 shares of the company's stock valued at $726,000 after acquiring an additional 3,981 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.98% of the company's stock.

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.