Wellington Management Group LLP Increases Position in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. $EPRT

Key Points

• Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 0.6%, now owning 8,511,088 shares, representing about 4.31% of the company's total stock.
• Essential Properties Realty Trust recently reported a quarterly EPS of $0.46, falling short of the expected $0.47, despite a 25.4% increase in quarterly revenue compared to the previous year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, yielding 3.9%, which reflects an increase from its previous dividend amount.

Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT - Free Report) by 0.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,511,088 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 48,904 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 4.31% of Essential Properties Realty Trust worth $277,802,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 51.5% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 30,653 shares of the company's stock worth $994,000 after buying an additional 10,420 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank grew its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 53,128 shares of the company's stock worth $1,734,000 after acquiring an additional 1,693 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 12.1% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 129,532 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,228,000 after acquiring an additional 14,032 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 37.4% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 409,365 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,805,000 after acquiring an additional 111,376 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meritage Portfolio Management boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 44.9% in the first quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 238,909 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,798,000 after purchasing an additional 73,994 shares during the period. 96.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Barclays cut their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $35.34.

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 stock had a trading volume of 1,370,851 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,473,615. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $6.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $31.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.61. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $27.44 and a 1 year high of $34.88.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 analyst estimates of $131.72 million. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a net margin of 44.48% and a return on equity of 6.20%. Essential Properties Realty Trust's revenue was up 25.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.47 earnings per share. Essential Properties Realty Trust has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.860-1.890 EPS. As a group, equities research 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 14th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date 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%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP A Joseph Peil sold 13,227 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 76,590 shares in the company, valued at $2,524,406.40. This trade represents a 14.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.77% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.