Norges Bank Acquires Shares of 2,664,347 Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)

Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 2,664,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $83,341,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. BCO Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust during the fourth quarter worth about $302,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,851,232 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,907,000 after acquiring an additional 256,457 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 115,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,637,000 after acquiring an additional 2,889 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association increased its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 11,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $350,000 after acquiring an additional 730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Institutional investors own 96.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on EPRT. Barclays decreased their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. B. Riley downgraded shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $29.50 to $33.50 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Capital One Financial started coverage on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Scotiabank cut 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 research report on Friday, February 28th. 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 company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.91.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Stephen D. Sautel sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.54, for a total transaction of $406,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 178,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,817,663.90. This trade represents a 6.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.81% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Price Performance

Shares of EPRT opened at $32.66 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $31.89 and a 200-day moving average of $32.40. 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 market capitalization of $6.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 5.36 and a quick ratio of 5.36.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 103.51%.

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.