Millennium Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)

Millennium Management LLC reduced its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT - Free Report) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,233,288 shares of the company's stock after selling 25,086 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC owned 0.70% of Essential Properties Realty Trust worth $38,577,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in EPRT. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 74.5% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 1,834.4% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,180 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 1,119 shares during the period. Quarry LP lifted its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 439.4% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,451 shares of the company's stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 1,182 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 1,802 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.98% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on EPRT shares. Capital One Financial began 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 on the stock. UBS Group cut their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $40.00 to $37.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. B. Riley lowered Essential Properties Realty Trust from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the company from $29.50 to $33.50 in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $34.77.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EPRT traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $32.34. 1,214,139 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,432,791. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 5.36 and a quick ratio of 5.36. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $26.07 and a twelve month high of $34.88. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.95. The company has a market cap of $6.39 billion, a PE ratio of 28.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.09.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $129.35 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $124.88 million. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a net margin of 45.15% and a return on equity of 6.12%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 24.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.83 EPS 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. 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.65%. Essential Properties Realty Trust's dividend payout ratio is currently 102.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essential Properties Realty Trust

In other news, Director Stephen D. Sautel sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,998,932.15. This represents a 12.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.