Nebula Research & Development LLC Acquires Shares of 18,732 Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)

Nebula Research & Development LLC acquired a new position in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 18,732 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $586,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Essential Properties Realty Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $83,341,000. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 237.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,100,485 shares of the company's stock worth $65,703,000 after buying an additional 1,478,451 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,651,728 shares of the company's stock worth $145,506,000 after buying an additional 1,178,284 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $21,438,000. Finally, FIL Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 32,343.4% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 673,524 shares of the company's stock valued at $21,068,000 after acquiring an additional 671,448 shares during the period. 96.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on EPRT shares. B. Riley downgraded shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $29.50 to $33.50 in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Barclays lowered their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Capital One Financial initiated coverage on Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $35.00 price target for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $34.91.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essential Properties Realty Trust

In other news, Director Stephen D. Sautel sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.99, for a total value of $959,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 218,785 shares in the company, valued at $6,998,932.15. This represents a 12.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.77% of the company's stock.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EPRT traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $31.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 891,882 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,427,978. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $26.07 and a one year high of $34.88. The company has a market cap of $6.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $31.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.03. The company has a current ratio of 5.36, a quick ratio of 5.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $129.35 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $124.88 million. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a net margin of 45.15% and a return on equity of 6.12%. Essential Properties Realty Trust's quarterly revenue was up 24.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.69%. Essential Properties Realty Trust's payout ratio is presently 102.61%.

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.