Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Raises Stock Holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) by 33.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,503,405 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 621,445 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 1.43% of Essential Properties Realty Trust worth $85,491,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 95.2% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 818 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 4.3% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 13,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $459,000 after buying an additional 558 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 8.2% during the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 7,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $269,000 after buying an additional 597 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 122.9% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,244 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 686 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 10,673 shares of the company’s stock valued at $296,000 after acquiring an additional 772 shares during the last quarter. 96.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Essential Properties Realty Trust news, CEO Peter M. Mavoides sold 27,817 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.33, for a total transaction of $899,323.61. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 446,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,421,637.08. This trade represents a 5.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on EPRT. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $32.00 to $36.25 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Wedbush started coverage on Essential Properties Realty Trust in a report on Monday, August 19th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $34.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Properties Realty Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.37.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Performance

Shares of EPRT opened at $33.47 on Friday. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.42 and a 12-month high of $34.51. The stock has a market cap of $5.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.10, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 5.59, a quick ratio of 5.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a 50-day moving average of $33.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.46.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $117.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.73 million. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a return on equity of 6.20% and a net margin of 46.00%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.87%.

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.