Scotiabank Cuts Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) Price Target to $30.00

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) had its price objective trimmed by Scotiabank from $33.00 to $30.00 in a report published on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has a sector outperform rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $37.00 target price on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Mizuho reduced their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and eleven have issued a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.75.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Price Performance

Shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust stock opened at $26.54 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 8.17, a current ratio of 8.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.85. Essential Properties Realty Trust has a twelve month low of $26.21 and a twelve month high of $34.73. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.87.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $161.89 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $156.65 million. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a net margin of 43.51% and a return on equity of 6.34%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. Essential Properties Realty Trust has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.010-2.050 EPS. Analysts forecast that Essential Properties Realty Trust will post 1.97 EPS for the current year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 99.22%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Robert M. Jenkins sold 22,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief operating officer owned 34,168 shares in the company, valued at $1,100,892.96. This represents a 39.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.77% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essential Properties Realty Trust

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanderbilt University lifted its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 0.9% in the first quarter. Vanderbilt University now owns 36,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,095,000 after buying an additional 315 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 82.0% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 899 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 47.8% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,339 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 433 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 21.1% during the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 478 shares during the period. Finally, GSI Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. GSI Capital Advisors LLC now owns 147,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,380,000 after acquiring an additional 510 shares in the last quarter. 96.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Company Profile

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc (NYSE:EPRT) is a real estate investment trust that owns and manages a diversified portfolio of single-tenant commercial properties across the United States. The company primarily invests in properties leased to middle-market businesses operating in service-oriented and experience-based industries.

Essential Properties generally leases its properties under long-term, triple-net agreements. Under these arrangements, tenants are typically responsible for property-level expenses such as maintenance, insurance and real estate taxes.