Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) Sets New 52-Week Low – Here’s Why

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday. The company traded as low as $25.77 and last traded at $25.7950, with a volume of 30575 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $26.27.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on EPRT shares. Wall Street Zen raised Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 5th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target 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. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $37.00 price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.75.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $5.61 billion, a PE ratio of 20.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $29.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.75. The company has a quick ratio of 8.17, a current ratio of 8.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.01. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a return on equity of 6.34% and a net margin of 43.51%.The firm had revenue of $161.89 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.65 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Essential Properties Realty Trust has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.010-2.050 EPS. Research analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s payout ratio is 99.22%.

Insider Transactions at Essential Properties Realty Trust

In other news, COO Robert M. Jenkins sold 22,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 34,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,100,892.96. This represents a 39.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essential Properties Realty Trust

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,183,153,000. 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 buying an additional 9,816,042 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 4,681.4% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 3,997,593 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,569,000 after buying an additional 3,913,986 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Essential Properties Realty Trust during the fourth quarter worth $68,467,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at $52,056,000. 96.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Essential Properties Realty Trust

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc is a real estate investment trust that owns and manages a diversified portfolio of single-tenant commercial properties. The company generally leases its properties to businesses under long-term, triple-net agreements, under which tenants are typically responsible for property taxes, insurance and maintenance expenses.

Essential Properties focuses primarily on service-oriented and experience-based businesses, including automotive services, health and fitness, medical and dental services, restaurants, early childhood education and other businesses that are often less suited to traditional retail real estate.