T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Buys 41,230 Shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. $EPRT

Key Points

• T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 0.8%, owning approximately 4.96 million shares, valued at about $161.98 million.
• Multiple brokerages have updated their price targets for Essential Properties Realty Trust, with Barclays lowering its target to $36.00 while UBS raised it to $38.00, reflecting a positive outlook overall.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, with a dividend yield of 3.9%, indicating its commitment to returning value to shareholders despite a payout ratio exceeding 100%.

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT - Free Report) by 0.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,962,740 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 41,230 shares during the quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned 2.51% of Essential Properties Realty Trust worth $161,984,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 51.8% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,062,006 shares of the company's stock worth $230,504,000 after purchasing an additional 2,410,278 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust during the first quarter worth $59,546,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust during the first quarter worth $37,224,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Essential Properties Realty Trust in the 4th quarter worth $35,085,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,966,449 shares of the company's stock worth $912,825,000 after purchasing an additional 870,486 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.98% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Truist Financial boosted 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. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 21st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $35.34.

Insider Activity at Essential Properties Realty Trust

In related news, VP A Joseph Peil sold 13,227 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.96, for a total value of $435,961.92. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 76,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,524,406.40. This represents a 14.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.81% of the company's stock.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Performance

NYSE:EPRT traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $31.20. The stock had a trading volume of 173,686 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,670,178. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $27.44 and a twelve month high of $34.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 5.67 and a current ratio of 5.67. The stock has a market cap of $6.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.43, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.07. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $31.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.60.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.46 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $131.72 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 25.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Essential Properties Realty Trust has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.860-1.890 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. 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 payout ratio is presently 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.