Adelante Capital Management LLC Has $1.49 Million Holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)

Adelante Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) by 95.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,763 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,063,871 shares during the quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust were worth $1,494,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $83,341,000. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 237.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,100,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,703,000 after purchasing an additional 1,478,451 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 33.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,651,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,506,000 after purchasing an additional 1,178,284 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $21,438,000. Finally, FIL Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 32,343.4% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 673,524 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,068,000 after purchasing an additional 671,448 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Essential Properties Realty Trust

In other news, Director Stephen D. Sautel sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.54, for a total transaction of $406,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 178,785 shares in the company, valued at $5,817,663.90. This represents a 6.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EPRT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Scotiabank reduced their target price 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 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. Capital One Financial started coverage on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, B. Riley lowered shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $29.50 to $33.50 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.91.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EPRT opened at $31.90 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $6.30 billion, a PE ratio of 27.98, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.08. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.06 and a 1-year high of $34.88. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $31.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.08.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $129.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $124.88 million. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a return on equity of 6.12% and a net margin of 45.15%. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. Research analysts predict 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 firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.70%. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 102.61%.

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.