Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the fourteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $34.91.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on EPRT shares. Capital One Financial started coverage on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $35.00 price target for the company. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, B. Riley lowered Essential Properties Realty Trust from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $29.50 to $33.50 in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th.

Insider Activity

In other Essential Properties Realty Trust news, Director Stephen D. Sautel sold 12,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.54, for a total transaction of $406,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 178,785 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,817,663.90. This trade represents a 6.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Essential Properties Realty Trust

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 8,085 shares of the company's stock valued at $264,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. now owns 21,709 shares of the company's stock valued at $673,000 after buying an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 50,884 shares of the company's stock worth $1,592,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 74.5% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,096 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 18,355 shares of the company's stock worth $574,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.98% of the company's stock.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EPRT traded up $0.27 on Monday, reaching $32.20. 2,141,533 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,427,581. The company has a market capitalization of $6.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.25, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.08. Essential Properties Realty Trust has a twelve month low of $26.06 and a twelve month high of $34.88. The company has a current ratio of 5.36, a quick ratio of 5.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a fifty day moving average of $31.67 and a 200-day moving average of $32.08.

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

Essential Properties Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Essential Properties Realty Trust's payout ratio is currently 102.61%.

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.