Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) Shares Acquired by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) by 41.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 224,988 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 65,627 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.13% of Essential Properties Realty Trust worth $7,038,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of EPRT. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $83,341,000. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 237.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,100,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,703,000 after buying an additional 1,478,451 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,651,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $145,506,000 after buying an additional 1,178,284 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $21,438,000. Finally, FIL Ltd lifted its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 32,343.4% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 673,524 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,068,000 after acquiring an additional 671,448 shares during the last quarter. 96.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EPRT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. 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 target price on the stock. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. B. Riley cut shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $29.50 to $33.50 in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Stephen D. Sautel sold 12,500 shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Up 0.4 %

EPRT opened at $31.90 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.30 billion, a PE ratio of 27.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.08. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $26.06 and a fifty-two week high of $34.88. The business has a 50-day moving average of $31.67 and a 200-day moving average of $32.08.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $129.35 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $124.88 million. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a net margin of 45.15% and a return on equity of 6.12%. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s revenue was up 24.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.42 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s payout ratio is 102.61%.

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.