Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) Price Target Raised to $32.00 at Stifel Nicolaus

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) had its price objective lifted by Stifel Nicolaus from $31.25 to $32.00 in a report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Mizuho upped their price objective on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from an outperform rating to an in-line rating and raised their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research note on Friday, June 28th. They set a buy rating and a $33.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $30.04.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust stock opened at $30.39 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 4.90 and a quick ratio of 7.61. Essential Properties Realty Trust has a 1-year low of $20.49 and a 1-year high of $31.23. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $28.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.38. The company has a market capitalization of $5.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.71, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.35.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $109.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $102.99 million. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a net margin of 48.12% and a return on equity of 6.28%. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Essential Properties Realty Trust will post 1.69 EPS for the current year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th were issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This is an increase from Essential Properties Realty Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.82%. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s payout ratio is currently 94.31%.

Insider Activity at Essential Properties Realty Trust

In other Essential Properties Realty Trust news, CEO Peter M. Mavoides sold 12,712 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.03, for a total transaction of $356,317.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 500,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,030,472.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Essential Properties Realty Trust news, CEO Peter M. Mavoides sold 12,712 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.03, for a total value of $356,317.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 500,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,030,472.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Peter M. Mavoides sold 20,863 shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.54, for a total transaction of $574,567.02. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 514,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,168,338.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 59,775 shares of company stock valued at $1,641,734. Company insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essential Properties Realty Trust

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 409.2% during the 1st quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 241,386 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,435,000 after purchasing an additional 193,979 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 4.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,377,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $676,561,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060,079 shares in the last quarter. Hazelview Securities Inc. increased its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 112.9% during the first quarter. Hazelview Securities Inc. now owns 867,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,731,000 after buying an additional 460,065 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 51.0% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 281,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,530,000 after buying an additional 94,970 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC raised its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC now owns 1,048,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,794,000 after buying an additional 56,990 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.98% of the company’s stock.

About Essential Properties Realty Trust

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.