Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Purchases 941,768 Shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. $EPRT

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group increased its EPRT stake by 406.4%, purchasing 941,768 shares in the third quarter to hold 1.17 million shares, valued at about $30.3 million.
• Institutional investors own 96.98% of the company’s shares. Analysts’ consensus rating is “Moderate Buy,” with an average price target of $32.46.
• EPRT’s latest quarterly revenue rose 15.5% year over year to $168.67 million, beating estimates, while EPS of $0.27 missed the $0.33 consensus. Its annualized dividend is $1.28 per share, a 4.5% yield.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT - Free Report) by 406.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,173,499 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 941,768 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.53% of Essential Properties Realty Trust worth $30,288,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust during the second quarter worth $7,629,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Essential Properties Realty Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at $5,538,000. Adelante Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Essential Properties Realty Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at $16,406,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Essential Properties Realty Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at $39,459,000. Finally, Readystate Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at $4,603,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.98% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Truist Financial started coverage on Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. They set a "buy" rating and a $31.00 target price on the stock. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $37.00 price target on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a report on Monday, September 21st. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $37.00 price target on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $32.46.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Price Performance

Essential Properties Realty Trust stock opened at $28.33 on Friday. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $27.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.40. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.62 and a 12 month high of $34.73. The company has a market cap of $6.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.03, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 4.94, a quick ratio of 4.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $168.67 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $158.17 million. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a return on equity of 5.95% and a net margin of 41.03%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.48 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.96 EPS for the current year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Essential Properties Realty Trust's dividend payout ratio is presently 104.07%.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Profile

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc NYSE: EPRT is an internally managed real estate investment trust that acquires, owns and manages single-tenant commercial properties. The company primarily leases these properties to middle-market businesses under long-term, net lease agreements, which generally require tenants to pay a substantial portion of the property's operating expenses, including taxes, insurance and maintenance.

EPRT's portfolio is diversified across businesses such as automotive services, medical services, restaurants, retail, early childhood education and other service-oriented industries.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding EPRT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.