California State Teachers Retirement System Buys 48,942 Shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. $EPRT

California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) by 25.9% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 237,668 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 48,942 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust were worth $7,216,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in EPRT. Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 111.6% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 18,611,967 shares of the company’s stock valued at $552,031,000 after purchasing an additional 9,816,042 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,131,871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,488,000 after purchasing an additional 843,877 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,844,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $232,670,000 after buying an additional 421,364 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 1,930,360.7% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 6,737,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $199,829,000 after acquiring an additional 6,736,959 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,240,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $155,452,000 after purchasing an additional 25,857 shares during the last quarter. 96.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EPRT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $34.00 to $33.00 in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. One equities research 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 currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $36.20.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of EPRT opened at $30.75 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.52. The company has a market capitalization of $6.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 8.17 and a quick ratio of 8.17. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.95 and a 1-year high of $34.73.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.01. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a net margin of 43.51% and a return on equity of 6.34%. The company had revenue of $161.89 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.65 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.46 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Essential Properties Realty Trust has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.010-2.050 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.97 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 Tuesday, July 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a $0.32 dividend. This is a positive change from Essential Properties Realty Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.22%.

Insider Transactions at Essential Properties Realty Trust

In other news, COO Robert M. Jenkins sold 22,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.22, for a total transaction of $708,840.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 34,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,100,892.96. This trade represents a 39.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Company Profile

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc (NYSE: EPRT) is a self-administered real estate investment trust that acquires, owns and manages single-tenant commercial properties subject to long-term, triple-net leases. The company’s portfolio primarily consists of small-box retail and industrial assets, including convenience stores, automotive service centers, quick-service restaurants, fitness centers and other necessity-based businesses. Under a triple-net lease structure, tenants assume responsibility for property taxes, insurance and most maintenance expenses, providing Essential Properties with predictable, stable cash flows.

Since its founding in April 2016 and its initial public offering later that year, Essential Properties has pursued a growth strategy focused on partnering with creditworthy tenants operating in densely populated trade areas.