TCW Group Inc. Buys New Position in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)

TCW Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 27,865 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $872,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 674,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,092,000 after acquiring an additional 70,800 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp bought a new stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust during the fourth quarter valued at $287,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 18.9% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,948,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,246,000 after acquiring an additional 469,610 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 33,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,042,000 after acquiring an additional 3,166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 58.1% during the fourth quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 19,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $599,000 after acquiring an additional 7,034 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.98% of the company’s stock.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Trading Up 0.6 %

EPRT opened at $32.07 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 5.36 and a quick ratio of 5.36. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two week high of $34.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.02 billion, a PE ratio of 28.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.40. The company’s 50-day moving average is $31.54 and its 200 day moving average is $32.25.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. As a group, 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 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 $0.295 dividend. This is a positive change from Essential Properties Realty Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.68%. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 103.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EPRT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of 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. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.55.

Essential Properties Realty Trust 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.