HighTower Advisors LLC Buys 9,976 Shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. $EPRT

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC significantly increased its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust, boosting its position by 73.9% and now owns 23,469 shares valued at approximately $766,000.
• Insider trading activity saw VP A Joseph Peil sell 13,227 shares for about $436,000, resulting in a 14.73% decrease in his ownership.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on the stock, with eight rating it a Buy and three a Hold, and a consensus price target now set at $35.34.

HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT - Free Report) by 73.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,469 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 9,976 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust were worth $766,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in EPRT. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 873,983 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,339,000 after acquiring an additional 50,012 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 173.4% in the 4th quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 176,755 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,529,000 after acquiring an additional 112,094 shares during the period. Boothbay Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $599,000. Quarry LP raised its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 439.4% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,451 shares of the company's stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 1,182 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 19.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,526,025 shares of the company's stock valued at $79,014,000 after acquiring an additional 417,443 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.98% of the company's stock.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Performance

EPRT stock traded up $0.22 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $31.31. 1,012,856 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,273,791. The company has a current ratio of 5.67, a quick ratio of 5.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.61. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.44 and a 12 month high of $34.88.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47 by ($0.01). Essential Properties Realty Trust had a return on equity of 6.20% and a net margin of 44.48%.The company had revenue of $129.11 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $131.72 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.47 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 25.4% on a year-over-year basis. Essential Properties Realty Trust has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.860-1.890 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Essential Properties Realty Trust

In related news, VP A Joseph Peil sold 13,227 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.96, for a total value of $435,961.92. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 76,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,524,406.40. This trade represents a 14.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.81% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank increased their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. UBS Group increased their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Properties Realty Trust presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $35.34.

Essential Properties Realty Trust 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.