Ameriprise Financial Inc. Sells 76,003 Shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lowered its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 899,771 shares of the company’s stock after selling 76,003 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.51% of Essential Properties Realty Trust worth $28,149,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $83,341,000. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position 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 during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake 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 valued at $145,506,000 after buying an additional 1,178,284 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $21,438,000. Finally, FIL Ltd boosted its stake 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 worth $21,068,000 after acquiring an additional 671,448 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Essential Properties Realty Trust

In related news, Director Stephen D. Sautel sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 178,785 shares in the company, valued at $5,817,663.90. This represents a 6.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Down 0.9%

NYSE EPRT opened at $31.39 on Wednesday. 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 market cap of $6.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.54, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50 day moving average of $31.59 and a 200-day moving average of $31.96. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.07 and a 1-year high of $34.88.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last announced 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 company had revenue of $129.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s payout ratio is presently 102.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on EPRT. Capital One Financial began coverage on Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, B. Riley cut 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 report on Wednesday, February 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.77.

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.