Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Boosts Stock Position in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. raised its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,053,195 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,850 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust were worth $64,224,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EPRT. Barclays PLC grew its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 118.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 297,989 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,176,000 after buying an additional 161,697 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust during the fourth quarter worth about $287,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,138,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,336,000 after acquiring an additional 76,475 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 6.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,594,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,462,000 after buying an additional 98,467 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 840.9% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 622,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,242,000 after acquiring an additional 555,926 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on EPRT shares. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Capital One Financial initiated coverage on Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Essential Properties Realty Trust in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. Barclays lowered their target price on 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. Finally, B. Riley lowered shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $29.50 to $33.50 in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.91.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of EPRT opened at $32.67 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.65, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.36. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.72 and a twelve month high of $34.88. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.39. The company has a quick ratio of 5.36, a current ratio of 5.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 6.12% and a net margin of 45.15%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.61%. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 103.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essential Properties Realty Trust

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

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.