FIL Ltd Acquires 671,448 Shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)

FIL Ltd lifted its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT - Free Report) by 32,343.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 673,524 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 671,448 shares during the period. FIL Ltd owned 0.38% of Essential Properties Realty Trust worth $21,068,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in 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 worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 1,834.4% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,180 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 1,119 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 215.4% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,211 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 827 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 275.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,456 shares of the company's stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 1,802 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.98% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on EPRT shares. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Barclays lowered their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Capital One Financial began coverage on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $35.00 target price on the stock. Finally, B. Riley cut shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $29.50 to $33.50 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $34.91.

Insider Activity at Essential Properties Realty Trust

In other news, Director Stephen D. Sautel sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.99, for a total value of $959,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 218,785 shares in the company, valued at $6,998,932.15. This trade represents a 12.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Trading Up 1.9 %

EPRT traded up $0.61 during trading on Thursday, reaching $32.48. 522,432 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,403,898. The company's fifty day moving average price is $31.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.10 billion, a PE ratio of 28.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.08. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.77 and a fifty-two week high of $34.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 5.36 and a current ratio of 5.36.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.14. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a return on equity of 6.12% and a net margin of 45.15%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.63%. Essential Properties Realty Trust's payout ratio is 103.51%.

About Essential Properties Realty Trust

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.