Millennium Management LLC Decreases Stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)

Millennium Management LLC cut its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,233,288 shares of the company’s stock after selling 25,086 shares during the quarter. Millennium Management LLC owned 0.70% of Essential Properties Realty Trust worth $38,577,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of EPRT. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 118.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 297,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,176,000 after buying an additional 161,697 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 145.4% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 29,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $912,000 after purchasing an additional 17,272 shares in the last quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. now owns 21,709 shares of the company’s stock worth $673,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 74.5% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,096 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 36.7% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 12,411 shares of the company’s stock worth $388,000 after purchasing an additional 3,334 shares in the last quarter. 96.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EPRT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Capital One Financial began coverage on Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, B. Riley downgraded Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $29.50 to $33.50 in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.77.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Performance

Essential Properties Realty Trust stock opened at $32.29 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.32, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $31.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.94. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $26.07 and a 52 week high of $34.88. 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 (NYSE:EPRT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $129.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $124.88 million. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a net margin of 45.15% and a return on equity of 6.12%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.65%. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 102.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essential Properties Realty Trust news, Director Stephen D. Sautel sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.54, for a total transaction of $406,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.