American Century Companies Inc. Cuts Position in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. $EPRT

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. reduced its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 34.6% during the first quarter, now owning approximately $27.9 million in shares.
• Invesco Ltd. increased its stake by 51.8% during the same period, now holding over 7 million shares valued at approximately $230.5 million.
• Essential Properties Realty Trust recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.30 per share, maintaining a yield of 3.8% despite a high payout ratio of 101.69%.

American Century Companies Inc. trimmed its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT - Free Report) by 34.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 855,259 shares of the company's stock after selling 452,238 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.43% of Essential Properties Realty Trust worth $27,916,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EPRT. Mariner LLC boosted its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 31,502 shares of the company's stock valued at $985,000 after purchasing an additional 1,534 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 41.2% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 224,988 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,038,000 after acquiring an additional 65,627 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 111,114 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,476,000 after acquiring an additional 6,678 shares during the period. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 79,237 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,479,000 after acquiring an additional 5,564 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 174,026 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,444,000 after acquiring an additional 1,596 shares during the period. 96.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Performance

Shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust stock traded up $0.20 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $31.29. 415,110 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,668,741. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $27.44 and a 1 year high of $34.88. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $31.16 and a 200-day moving average of $31.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.07.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $131.72 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.47 EPS. Essential Properties Realty Trust's revenue for the quarter was up 25.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Essential Properties Realty Trust has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.860-1.890 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. This is a positive change from Essential Properties Realty Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. Essential Properties Realty Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 101.69%.

Insider Transactions at Essential Properties Realty Trust

In other Essential Properties Realty Trust news, VP A Joseph Peil sold 13,227 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 76,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,524,406.40. This represents a 14.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.81% 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.