Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) Shares Sold by Eagle Asset Management Inc.

Eagle Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) by 17.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 297,590 shares of the company’s stock after selling 62,767 shares during the quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. owned 0.17% of Essential Properties Realty Trust worth $9,847,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 95.2% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 818 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 399 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Quarry LP raised its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 611.3% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,027 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 122.9% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,244 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 686 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 116.4% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,945 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 1,046 shares during the period. 96.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on EPRT shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $32.00 to $36.25 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.37.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Peter M. Mavoides sold 27,817 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 5.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.81% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:EPRT opened at $33.47 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $33.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.46. The company has a market capitalization of $5.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.37. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $23.42 and a 52-week high of $34.51. The company has a quick ratio of 5.59, a current ratio of 5.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

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

Essential Properties Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.87%.

Essential Properties Realty Trust 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.