Cibc World Markets Corp Purchases Shares of 16,420 Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)

Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 16,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $514,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Selective Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. now owns 21,709 shares of the company’s stock valued at $673,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 50,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,592,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 74.5% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,096 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 6,815 shares of the company’s stock valued at $233,000 after acquiring an additional 542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 24.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,000 after acquiring an additional 762 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EPRT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. B. Riley lowered shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $29.50 to $33.50 in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Capital One Financial initiated coverage on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $35.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.91.

Insider Activity at Essential Properties Realty Trust

In other news, Director Stephen D. Sautel sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.54, for a total value of $406,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 178,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,817,663.90. This represents a 6.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Price Performance

EPRT opened at $31.72 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $31.70 and a 200-day moving average of $32.39. The company has a market capitalization of $5.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.82, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.36. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.72 and a 1-year high of $34.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 5.36 and a current ratio of 5.36.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.14. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a net margin of 45.15% and a return on equity of 6.12%. Equities analysts expect that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 103.51%.

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.