Groupe la Francaise Takes $559,000 Position in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. $EPRT

Key Points

• Groupe la Francaise has acquired a new stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust, purchasing 17,131 shares valued at approximately $559,000 in the first quarter.
• Institutional ownership of Essential Properties Realty Trust is high, with 96.98% of the stock held by institutional investors and hedge funds, indicating strong investor confidence.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.30 per share, which translates to an annualized dividend yield of 3.8%.

Groupe la Francaise bought a new stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 17,131 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $559,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 51.5% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 30,653 shares of the company's stock valued at $994,000 after acquiring an additional 10,420 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank raised its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 53,128 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,734,000 after acquiring an additional 1,693 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 12.1% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 129,532 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,228,000 after acquiring an additional 14,032 shares in the last quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management raised its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 44.9% during the 1st quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 238,909 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,798,000 after acquiring an additional 73,994 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 10.7% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 87,962 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,871,000 after acquiring an additional 8,510 shares in the last quarter. 96.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial upped their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. UBS Group upped their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Scotiabank increased their target price on 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. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from 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 Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EPRT opened at $31.2960 on Monday. 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 5.67 and a quick ratio of 5.67. The business's fifty day moving average price is $31.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.20 billion, a PE ratio of 26.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Essential Properties Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. This is a positive change from Essential Properties Realty Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. Essential Properties Realty Trust's dividend payout ratio is 101.69%.

Insider Activity at Essential Properties Realty Trust

In other 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 transaction of $435,961.92. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 76,590 shares of the company's stock, 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 the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.81% of the company's stock.

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.

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