Russell Investments Group Ltd. Reduces Holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,781,866 shares of the company’s stock after selling 113,239 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 1.02% of Essential Properties Realty Trust worth $55,737,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 118.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 297,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,176,000 after purchasing an additional 161,697 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust during the fourth quarter worth about $287,000. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 38.6% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 94,169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,946,000 after buying an additional 26,234 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,594,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,462,000 after buying an additional 98,467 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,872,955 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,866,000 after buying an additional 43,179 shares during the last quarter. 96.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essential Properties Realty Trust news, Director Stephen D. Sautel sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.99, for a total value of $959,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 218,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,998,932.15. This trade represents a 12.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Down 3.3 %

EPRT stock opened at $30.77 on Monday. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.72 and a 52 week high of $34.88. The company has a quick ratio of 5.36, a current ratio of 5.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.07.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.83%. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s payout ratio is currently 103.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on EPRT shares. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of 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. Barclays reduced their price objective 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Capital One Financial started 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. Finally, B. Riley lowered Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $29.50 to $33.50 in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. 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 company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.91.

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.