VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Makes New $5.81 Million Investment in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. $EPRT

Key Points

• Virginia Retirement Systems ET Al invested approximately $5.81 million in Essential Properties Realty Trust, acquiring 182,182 shares during the second quarter.
• The stock has received several positive ratings from analysts, with a current consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $35.23.
• Essential Properties Realty Trust recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30, which reflects an annualized yield of 3.8%.

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 182,182 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,813,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al owned approximately 0.09% of Essential Properties Realty Trust at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 344.5% during the second quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 121,476 shares of the company's stock worth $3,876,000 after purchasing an additional 94,145 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 2.9% during the second quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 241,591 shares of the company's stock worth $7,709,000 after purchasing an additional 6,748 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 6.8% during the second quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 74,435 shares of the company's stock worth $2,375,000 after purchasing an additional 4,749 shares in the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc lifted its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 18.8% during the second quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 70,998 shares of the company's stock worth $2,266,000 after purchasing an additional 11,254 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 5.9% during the second quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 58,046 shares of the company's stock worth $1,852,000 after purchasing an additional 3,249 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.98% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EPRT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. They set an "overweight" rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. Berenberg Bank assumed coverage on Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research report on Monday, October 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI raised Essential Properties Realty Trust from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $34.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Monday, September 15th. 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 research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price 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. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $35.23.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust stock opened at $31.36 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $6.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.12. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.44 and a fifty-two week high of $34.88. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $30.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.11.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $129.11 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $131.72 million. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a net margin of 44.48% and a return on equity of 6.20%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 25.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.47 earnings per share. Essential Properties Realty Trust has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.860-1.890 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 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.

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