Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) Sets New 12-Month Low – Here’s What Happened

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low on Friday . The stock traded as low as $28.81 and last traded at $28.8910, with a volume of 166431 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $29.10.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on EPRT shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Barclays cut their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $36.25 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $34.00 to $33.00 in a report on Thursday, June 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and eleven have issued a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Properties Realty Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $36.20.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $31.05 and a 200 day moving average of $31.37. The company has a current ratio of 8.17, a quick ratio of 8.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $6.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.85.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $161.89 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $156.65 million. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a return on equity of 6.34% and a net margin of 43.51%.The company’s revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. Essential Properties Realty Trust has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.010-2.050 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 99.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Essential Properties Realty Trust news, COO Robert M. Jenkins sold 22,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.22, for a total transaction of $708,840.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 34,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,100,892.96. This trade represents a 39.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essential Properties Realty Trust

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 1,930,360.7% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 6,737,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $199,829,000 after buying an additional 6,736,959 shares during the period. Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its position in 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 worth $552,031,000 after acquiring an additional 9,816,042 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,397,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,440,000 after acquiring an additional 115,768 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 45.5% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,329,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,368,000 after acquiring an additional 415,666 shares during the period. Finally, Kennedy Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 582,586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,280,000 after purchasing an additional 65,141 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.98% of the company’s stock.

About Essential Properties Realty Trust

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc (NYSE:EPRT) is a real estate investment trust that owns and manages a diversified portfolio of single-tenant commercial properties across the United States. The company primarily invests in properties leased to middle-market businesses operating in service-oriented and experience-based industries.

Essential Properties generally leases its properties under long-term, triple-net agreements. Under these arrangements, tenants are typically responsible for property-level expenses such as maintenance, insurance and real estate taxes.