Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) Given Consensus Rating of “Buy” by Analysts

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) has been given a consensus rating of “Buy” by the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $36.50.

Several research analysts have issued reports on EPRT shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a report on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, April 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $36.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd.

Insider Activity at Essential Properties Realty Trust

In other news, CFO Robert Webb Salisbury sold 5,851 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.88, for a total transaction of $186,529.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $264,922.80. The trade was a 41.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP A Joseph Peil sold 19,657 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.10, for a total transaction of $630,989.70. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 76,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,456,452.50. The trade was a 20.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cohen & Steers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 111.6% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 18,611,967 shares of the company’s stock valued at $552,031,000 after purchasing an additional 9,816,042 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 8.2% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,131,871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,488,000 after purchasing an additional 843,877 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,844,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,670,000 after purchasing an additional 421,364 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 1,930,360.7% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 6,737,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $199,829,000 after purchasing an additional 6,736,959 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,240,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $155,452,000 after purchasing an additional 25,857 shares during the last quarter. 96.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust stock opened at $30.33 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 5.12 and a current ratio of 5.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.56 billion, a PE ratio of 23.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.88. Essential Properties Realty Trust has a 52-week low of $28.95 and a 52-week high of $34.73. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.34.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $158.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $151.87 million. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a return on equity of 6.30% and a net margin of 43.46%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. Essential Properties Realty Trust has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.000-2.050 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Essential Properties Realty Trust will post 1.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 97.64%.

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.