Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) Director Sells $959,700.00 in Stock

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) Director Stephen D. Sautel sold 30,000 shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.99, for a total value of $959,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Down 0.1 %

EPRT stock traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $32.46. 1,046,958 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,138,993. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a current ratio of 5.36, a quick ratio of 5.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $31.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.28. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.58 and a 12-month high of $34.88.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.14. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a net margin of 45.15% and a return on equity of 6.12%. On average, analysts anticipate 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 Tuesday, January 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.64%. This is a boost from Essential Properties Realty Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 103.51%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of EPRT. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 228.5% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 44,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,385,000 after acquiring an additional 30,794 shares during the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new position in Essential Properties Realty Trust in the fourth quarter worth $100,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 252,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,912,000 after purchasing an additional 2,051 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,130,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,364,000 after purchasing an additional 44,041 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 57.6% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 137,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,288,000 after buying an additional 50,100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. B. Riley lowered shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $29.50 to $33.50 in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Properties Realty Trust has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.55.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Company Profile

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.