Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) Given Consensus Rating of “Buy” by Analysts

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) has received an average rating of “Buy” from the twelve research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $36.4091.

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings raised Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Scotiabank raised Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $34.00 to $33.00 in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 20th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EPRT. Pensionfund Sabic increased its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 7.3% during the second quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 29,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $881,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 45.5% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,329,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,368,000 after purchasing an additional 415,666 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 4.5% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 194,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,908,000 after purchasing an additional 8,343 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 177.3% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 736,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,352,000 after purchasing an additional 470,711 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adelante Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 58.1% during the 1st quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC now owns 650,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,738,000 after purchasing an additional 238,816 shares in the last quarter. 96.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Performance

EPRT opened at $33.25 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 5.12, a quick ratio of 5.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The business’s 50 day moving average is $30.82 and its 200-day moving average is $31.38. The stock has a market cap of $7.19 billion, a PE ratio of 26.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.88. Essential Properties Realty Trust has a twelve month low of $28.95 and a twelve month high of $34.73.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.05). Essential Properties Realty Trust had a return on equity of 6.30% and a net margin of 43.46%.The business had revenue of $158.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $151.87 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Essential Properties Realty Trust will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. This is an increase from Essential Properties Realty Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.79%.

About Essential Properties Realty Trust

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc (NYSE: EPRT) is a self-administered real estate investment trust that acquires, owns and manages single-tenant commercial properties subject to long-term, triple-net leases. The company’s portfolio primarily consists of small-box retail and industrial assets, including convenience stores, automotive service centers, quick-service restaurants, fitness centers and other necessity-based businesses. Under a triple-net lease structure, tenants assume responsibility for property taxes, insurance and most maintenance expenses, providing Essential Properties with predictable, stable cash flows.

Since its founding in April 2016 and its initial public offering later that year, Essential Properties has pursued a growth strategy focused on partnering with creditworthy tenants operating in densely populated trade areas.