Legal & General Group Plc Decreases Stock Holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)

Legal & General Group Plc cut its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,174,321 shares of the company’s stock after selling 95,877 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.67% of Essential Properties Realty Trust worth $36,733,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 33.9% during the fourth 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 period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 237.7% during 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. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 52.7% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 17,865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $575,000 after purchasing an additional 6,168 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,422,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $138,342,000 after buying an additional 284,036 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 236,689 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,404,000 after buying an additional 20,982 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. 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. B. Riley lowered shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $29.50 to $33.50 in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Capital One Financial began coverage on Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $35.00 target price for the company. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. 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 MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.91.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Stephen D. Sautel sold 12,500 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the director now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Price Performance

EPRT opened at $30.75 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 5.36, a quick ratio of 5.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.18. The company has a market capitalization of $5.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.97, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.08. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.72 and a 12-month high of $34.88.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s payout ratio is 103.51%.

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.