Public Sector Pension Investment Board Raises Stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. $EPRT

Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) by 14.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 772,830 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 99,429 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust were worth $22,999,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EPRT. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,131,871 shares of the company’s stock worth $358,488,000 after purchasing an additional 843,877 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 3.9% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,338,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $234,181,000 after buying an additional 276,803 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 9.2% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,155,085 shares of the company’s stock worth $164,517,000 after acquiring an additional 435,971 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 8.9% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,284,712 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,815,000 after acquiring an additional 267,226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust during the second quarter valued at $84,188,000. Institutional investors own 96.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on EPRT shares. Evercore dropped their price target on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $36.00 price target on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Properties Realty Trust has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.45.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EPRT opened at $32.11 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $30.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.48. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.44 and a 52-week high of $33.35. The company has a market cap of $6.74 billion, a PE ratio of 25.08, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 5.66, a current ratio of 6.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st were issued a $0.31 dividend. This is an increase from Essential Properties Realty Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 31st. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 100.00%.

About Essential Properties Realty Trust

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.