Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) Price Target Raised to $34.00

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) had its price objective hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $31.00 to $34.00 in a research note released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on EPRT. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Wedbush initiated coverage on Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research note on Monday, August 19th. They issued an outperform rating and a $34.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research note on Friday, June 28th. They issued a buy rating and a $33.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $31.73.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Up 0.1 %

EPRT opened at $31.52 on Monday. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.35. Essential Properties Realty Trust has a 12 month low of $20.49 and a 12 month high of $32.02.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.13). The business 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 26.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.41 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Essential Properties Realty Trust will post 1.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 a boost from Essential Properties Realty Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 28th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.68%. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 94.31%.

Insider Transactions at Essential Properties Realty Trust

In other news, CEO Peter M. Mavoides sold 20,863 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.54, for a total transaction of $574,567.02. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 514,464 shares in the company, valued at $14,168,338.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Peter M. Mavoides sold 20,863 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.54, for a total transaction of $574,567.02. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 514,464 shares in the company, valued at $14,168,338.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Peter M. Mavoides sold 12,712 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.03, for a total value of $356,317.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 500,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,030,472.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,775 shares of company stock worth $964,484 over the last quarter. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Asset Dedication LLC acquired a new position in Essential Properties Realty Trust in the second quarter valued at $27,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new position in Essential Properties Realty Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,027 shares during the last quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Essential Properties Realty Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.