Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) Stock Bumped Down to Sell by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on EPRT. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $37.00 price target on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a report on Monday, September 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $38.00 to $28.00 in a report on Tuesday. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Finally, Truist Financial assumed coverage on Essential Properties Realty Trust in a report on Thursday, October 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essential Properties Realty Trust currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.23.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EPRT opened at $26.64 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $27.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.01. Essential Properties Realty Trust has a 1-year low of $24.62 and a 1-year high of $34.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 4.94, a quick ratio of 8.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $168.67 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $158.17 million. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a return on equity of 5.95% and a net margin of 41.03%. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.48 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Essential Properties Realty Trust will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th were given a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 104.07%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essential Properties Realty Trust

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 57.3% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 8,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,000 after buying an additional 3,068 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 12.5% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 54,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,409,000 after acquiring an additional 6,063 shares during the last quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust during the third quarter valued at approximately $250,000. Pensionfund Sabic increased its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 13.6% during the third quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 33,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $865,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pensionfund PDN lifted its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 13.2% during the third quarter. Pensionfund PDN now owns 68,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,768,000 after acquiring an additional 8,000 shares during the period. 96.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Essential Properties Realty Trust

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc (NYSE:EPRT) is an internally managed real estate investment trust that acquires, owns and manages single-tenant commercial properties. The company primarily leases these properties to middle-market businesses under long-term, net lease agreements, which generally require tenants to pay a substantial portion of the property’s operating expenses, including taxes, insurance and maintenance.

EPRT’s portfolio is diversified across businesses such as automotive services, medical services, restaurants, retail, early childhood education and other service-oriented industries.