Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. $EPRT

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) by 3.9% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,771,898 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 103,311 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust were worth $84,156,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 24.4% in the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 141,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,291,000 after acquiring an additional 27,754 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 637.0% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 6,279 shares of the company’s stock worth $191,000 after purchasing an additional 5,427 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 20.3% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,724 shares of the company’s stock worth $326,000 after purchasing an additional 1,811 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 23.9% during the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,027,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,346,000 after purchasing an additional 197,966 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ibex Wealth Advisors bought a new position in Essential Properties Realty Trust during the 1st quarter valued at about $298,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on EPRT. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Mizuho reduced their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Scotiabank raised Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $34.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essential Properties Realty Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $36.41.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Trading Up 5.0%

Shares of EPRT opened at $32.88 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.89, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 5.12 and a quick ratio of 5.12. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.95 and a 1-year high of $34.73. The company has a 50-day moving average of $30.71 and a 200 day moving average of $31.31.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $158.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $151.87 million. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a return on equity of 6.30% and a net margin of 43.46%.Essential Properties Realty Trust’s revenue was up 22.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. Essential Properties Realty Trust has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.000-2.050 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.97 EPS for the current year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. This is a positive change from Essential Properties Realty Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.79%.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Company Profile

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc (NYSE: EPRT) is a self-administered real estate investment trust that acquires, owns and manages single-tenant commercial properties subject to long-term, triple-net leases. The company’s portfolio primarily consists of small-box retail and industrial assets, including convenience stores, automotive service centers, quick-service restaurants, fitness centers and other necessity-based businesses. Under a triple-net lease structure, tenants assume responsibility for property taxes, insurance and most maintenance expenses, providing Essential Properties with predictable, stable cash flows.

Since its founding in April 2016 and its initial public offering later that year, Essential Properties has pursued a growth strategy focused on partnering with creditworthy tenants operating in densely populated trade areas.