Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.30 (NYSE:EPRT)

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, March 10th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.295 per share on Friday, April 11th. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st.

Essential Properties Realty Trust has raised its dividend by an average of 5.1% annually over the last three years. Essential Properties Realty Trust has a dividend payout ratio of 88.1% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings decline. Equities analysts expect Essential Properties Realty Trust to earn $1.98 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.18 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 59.6%.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Price Performance

EPRT traded down $0.45 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $31.12. 3,144,494 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,253,395. The company has a quick ratio of 5.36, a current ratio of 5.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.36. Essential Properties Realty Trust has a one year low of $24.72 and a one year high of $34.88.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last posted its earnings results 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Essential Properties Realty Trust will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Essential Properties Realty Trust in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. B. Riley lowered Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $29.50 to $33.50 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Capital One Financial assumed coverage on Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $35.00 target price for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.48.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essential Properties Realty Trust

In related news, Director Stephen D. Sautel sold 30,000 shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.99, for a total transaction of $959,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 218,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,998,932.15. The trade was a 12.06 % 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. Corporate insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

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.