Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) Position Lifted by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT - Free Report) by 45.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,556 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 11,699 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC's holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust were worth $1,174,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 74.5% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,096 shares of the company's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 468 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings 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. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 439.4% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,451 shares of the company's stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 1,182 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 275.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,456 shares of the company's stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 1,802 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.98% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Stephen D. Sautel sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.54, for a total value of $406,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 178,785 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,817,663.90. This represents a 6.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.77% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. B. Riley downgraded shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $29.50 to $33.50 in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. UBS Group cut their target price 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. Capital One Financial started coverage on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $35.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $34.91.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:EPRT traded up $0.17 during trading on Friday, reaching $31.88. The stock had a trading volume of 1,107,233 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,434,022. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $31.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.96. The company has a quick ratio of 5.36, a current ratio of 5.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $6.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.97, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.09. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $26.07 and a fifty-two week high of $34.88.

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

Essential Properties Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Essential Properties Realty Trust's dividend payout ratio is presently 102.61%.

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.