Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) Shares Bought by New Age Alpha Advisors LLC

Key Points

• New Age Alpha Advisors LLC significantly increased its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 1,085.4%, now owning approximately $5.01 million worth of shares.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds hold about 96.98% of Essential Properties Realty Trust's stock, reflecting strong investor confidence in the company.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, indicating a stable yield despite a reported earnings miss during the last quarter.

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT - Free Report) by 1,085.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 153,363 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 140,425 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC owned about 0.08% of Essential Properties Realty Trust worth $5,006,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,651,728 shares of the company's stock valued at $145,506,000 after buying an additional 1,178,284 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,422,710 shares of the company's stock valued at $138,342,000 after buying an additional 284,036 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 2.9% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,035,196 shares of the company's stock valued at $99,069,000 after buying an additional 86,244 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 19.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,526,025 shares of the company's stock valued at $79,014,000 after buying an additional 417,443 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 237.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,100,485 shares of the company's stock valued at $65,703,000 after buying an additional 1,478,451 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.98% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EPRT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of 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. Scotiabank upped their price target 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. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $34.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP A Joseph Peil sold 13,227 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.96, for a total transaction of $435,961.92. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.77% of the company's stock.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust stock traded down $0.09 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $30.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,177,825 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,930,555. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $27.44 and a 1-year high of $34.88. The business has a fifty day moving average of $31.60 and a 200 day moving average of $31.69. The company has a market capitalization of $5.99 billion, a PE ratio of 25.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 5.67, a current ratio of 5.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $129.11 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $131.72 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.47 EPS. Essential Properties Realty Trust's revenue was up 25.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 14th. Investors 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 yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This is a positive change from Essential Properties Realty Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Essential Properties Realty Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 101.69%.

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.