Raymond James Financial Inc. Acquires New Shares in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 685,359 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,438,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.39% of Essential Properties Realty Trust as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 74.5% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,096 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 1,834.4% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,180 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,119 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 215.4% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,211 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 827 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust during the third quarter worth about $79,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.98% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Capital One Financial assumed coverage on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $35.00 target price on the stock. B. Riley cut Essential Properties Realty Trust from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $29.50 to $33.50 in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays dropped their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $34.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Stephen D. Sautel sold 12,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.54, for a total transaction of $406,750.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 178,785 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,817,663.90. This represents a 6.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:EPRT traded down $0.07 during trading on Thursday, hitting $32.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 315,329 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,415,988. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.60 and a fifty-two week high of $34.88. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $31.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 5.36 and a current ratio of 5.36. The company has a market capitalization of $6.01 billion, a PE ratio of 28.09, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.08.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.14. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a return on equity of 6.12% and a net margin of 45.15%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Essential Properties Realty Trust's payout ratio is currently 103.51%.

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.