Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) Hits New 1-Year Low After Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Essential Properties Realty Trust shares hit a new 52-week low, falling to $26.58 after Mizuho cut its price target from $34 to $30, while maintaining an “outperform” rating.
• Despite the setback, analysts retain a generally positive view: the stock has a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $35.84, substantially above its recent trading level.
• The company reported quarterly revenue of $161.89 million and adjusted earnings of $0.34 per share, exceeding estimates, and declared a $0.32 quarterly dividend, implying a 4.8% annualized yield.

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week low on Thursday after Mizuho lowered their price target on the stock from $34.00 to $30.00. Mizuho currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Essential Properties Realty Trust traded as low as $26.58 and last traded at $26.56, with a volume of 414982 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.79.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Essential Properties Realty Trust from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 5th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $36.25 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded Essential Properties Realty Trust from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $34.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $35.84.

Insider Activity at Essential Properties Realty Trust

In other news, COO Robert M. Jenkins sold 22,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.22, for a total value of $708,840.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 34,168 shares in the company, valued at $1,100,892.96. This trade represents a 39.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Essential Properties Realty Trust

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of EPRT. Cohen & Steers Inc. raised its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 111.6% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 18,611,967 shares of the company's stock valued at $552,031,000 after buying an additional 9,816,042 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,397,170 shares of the company's stock worth $41,440,000 after acquiring an additional 115,768 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 45.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,329,642 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,368,000 after acquiring an additional 415,666 shares during the last quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $16,406,000. Finally, Kennedy Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 582,586 shares of the company's stock valued at $17,280,000 after acquiring an additional 65,141 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.98% of the company's stock.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $30.81 and a 200-day moving average of $31.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.63, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 8.17, a current ratio of 8.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.01. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a net margin of 43.51% and a return on equity of 6.34%. The firm had revenue of $161.89 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.65 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Essential Properties Realty Trust has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.010-2.050 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.97 EPS for the current year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. Essential Properties Realty Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 99.22%.

About Essential Properties Realty Trust

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc NYSE: EPRT is a real estate investment trust that owns and manages a diversified portfolio of single-tenant commercial properties across the United States. The company primarily invests in properties leased to middle-market businesses operating in service-oriented and experience-based industries.

Essential Properties generally leases its properties under long-term, triple-net agreements. Under these arrangements, tenants are typically responsible for property-level expenses such as maintenance, insurance and real estate taxes.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.