Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) Short Interest Update

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,510,000 shares, an increase of 14.5% from the May 15th total of 7,430,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,400,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.1 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essential Properties Realty Trust

In other news, CEO Peter M. Mavoides sold 9,188 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.01, for a total transaction of $238,979.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 554,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,433,053.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Peter M. Mavoides sold 9,188 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.01, for a total transaction of $238,979.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 554,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,433,053.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Stephen D. Sautel sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.09, for a total transaction of $677,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 247,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,704,558.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,288 shares of company stock valued at $918,830 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Essential Properties Realty Trust

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EPRT. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,312,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 36.6% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,015,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $130,110,000 after purchasing an additional 1,611,484 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 18.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,931,196 shares of the company’s stock valued at $253,841,000 after purchasing an additional 1,543,346 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 31.4% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,305,696 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,762,000 after purchasing an additional 1,267,534 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 4.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,377,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $676,561,000 after buying an additional 1,060,079 shares during the last quarter. 96.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $25.00 to $28.50 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research report on Friday, May 31st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $30.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective (up previously from $27.50) on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $28.60.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Down 0.2 %

EPRT traded down $0.05 during trading on Friday, reaching $27.60. The company had a trading volume of 687,661 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,276,864. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 7.61 and a quick ratio of 7.61. Essential Properties Realty Trust has a 12 month low of $20.49 and a 12 month high of $28.18. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $26.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.68. The company has a market cap of $4.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.44, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.30.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.20%. This is a positive change from Essential Properties Realty Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s payout ratio is presently 92.68%.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Company Profile

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.