Venture Visionary Partners LLC Trims Stock Position in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. $EPRT

Key Points

• Venture Visionary Partners LLC has halved its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust, selling 50,000 shares and now owning shares worth approximately $1.63 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Vanguard Group Inc. and Invesco Ltd., have increased their stakes in the company, with institutional investors owning about 97% of the company's stock.
• The company's stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $35.15.

Venture Visionary Partners LLC cut its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT - Free Report) by 50.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,000 shares of the company's stock after selling 50,000 shares during the quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC's holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust were worth $1,632,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 4.3% during the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 8,085 shares of the company's stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 335 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 10,778 shares of the company's stock worth $352,000 after acquiring an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 10,609 shares of the company's stock valued at $349,000 after acquiring an additional 426 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. lifted its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 14,026 shares of the company's stock valued at $458,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares during the period. Finally, Mutual of America Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 2.9% during the first quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 27,331 shares of the company's stock worth $892,000 after acquiring an additional 772 shares in the last quarter. 96.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EPRT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. 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 report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $35.34.

Insider Transactions at Essential Properties Realty Trust

In other Essential Properties Realty Trust news, VP A Joseph Peil sold 13,227 shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.96, for a total value of $435,961.92. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 76,590 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,524,406.40. The trade was a 14.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.77% of the company's stock.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust stock traded up $0.1760 on Friday, reaching $31.2960. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,370,851 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,473,615. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.44 and a 52 week high of $34.88. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $31.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.61. The company has a quick ratio of 5.67, a current ratio of 5.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market capitalization of $6.20 billion, a price-to-earnings 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47 by ($0.01). Essential Properties Realty Trust had a net margin of 44.48% and a return on equity of 6.20%. The business had revenue of $129.11 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $131.72 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.47 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter 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. Equities analysts anticipate 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 14th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a 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 was Monday, June 30th. Essential Properties Realty Trust's payout ratio is currently 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.