Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) Director Stephen D. Sautel Sells 30,000 Shares of Stock

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) Director Stephen D. Sautel sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.99, for a total value of $959,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 218,785 shares in the company, valued at $6,998,932.15. This trade represents a 12.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE EPRT opened at $32.46 on Thursday. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.58 and a 12-month high of $34.88. The stock has a market cap of $6.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a current ratio of 5.36, a quick ratio of 5.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.28.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.45 EPS 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, analysts forecast that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Essential Properties Realty Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.64%. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 103.51%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essential Properties Realty Trust

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,033,209 shares of the company’s stock worth $345,535,000 after purchasing an additional 96,615 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 33.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,651,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,506,000 after buying an additional 1,178,284 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 2.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,468,922 shares of the company’s stock worth $152,642,000 after purchasing an additional 118,927 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,422,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $138,342,000 after buying an additional 284,036 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,948,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,246,000 after purchasing an additional 469,610 shares during the period. 96.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EPRT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Capital One Financial initiated coverage on Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Essential Properties Realty Trust in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho upped their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.55.

About Essential Properties Realty Trust

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.