Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $92.25 Million Position in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) by 18.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,948,952 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 469,610 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust were worth $92,246,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 33,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,042,000 after purchasing an additional 3,166 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 58.1% in the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 19,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $599,000 after purchasing an additional 7,034 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 50,608 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,583,000 after purchasing an additional 17,713 shares during the period. Vanderbilt University boosted its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 54.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanderbilt University now owns 54,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,707,000 after purchasing an additional 19,197 shares during the period. Finally, abrdn plc boosted its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 63.6% in the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 57,477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,794,000 after purchasing an additional 22,353 shares during the period. 96.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on EPRT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. Capital One Financial began coverage on Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $35.00 target price for the company. UBS Group upped their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Mizuho upped their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.25.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of EPRT stock opened at $31.66 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $5.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.53, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $31.61 and a 200-day moving average of $32.16. The company has a current ratio of 5.59, a quick ratio of 5.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.58 and a 1-year high of $34.88.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.14. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a return on equity of 6.20% and a net margin of 46.00%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.295 dividend. This is a boost from Essential Properties Realty Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.73%. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 102.61%.

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.