Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) Reaches New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Raymond James raised their price target on the stock from $28.00 to $33.00. Raymond James currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Essential Properties Realty Trust traded as high as $31.23 and last traded at $31.20, with a volume of 598640 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.73.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. 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 report on Wednesday, July 17th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $31.25 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Wedbush started coverage on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research note on Monday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $34.00 price target on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.12.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Peter M. Mavoides sold 1,200 shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.00, for a total value of $33,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 513,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,371,392. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Peter M. Mavoides sold 20,863 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.54, for a total value of $574,567.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 514,464 shares in the company, valued at $14,168,338.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Peter M. Mavoides sold 1,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.00, for a total transaction of $33,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 513,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,371,392. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 34,775 shares of company stock valued at $964,484. Insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Essential Properties Realty Trust

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EPRT. Asset Dedication LLC acquired a new position in Essential Properties Realty Trust during the second quarter worth about $27,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 611.3% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 1,027 shares during the last quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors raised its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 71.4% in the fourth quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 1,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.98% of the company’s stock.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Trading Up 1.4 %

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $28.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 4.90 and a quick ratio of 4.90. The firm has a market cap of $5.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.35.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $109.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $102.99 million. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a net margin of 48.12% and a return on equity of 6.28%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 26.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.41 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th were issued a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.72%. This is an increase from Essential Properties Realty Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 28th. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s payout ratio is presently 94.31%.

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.