Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) have been given an average recommendation of “Buy” by the nine research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $28.22.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup raised shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $25.00 to $28.50 in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective (up from $27.50) on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $27.00 to $27.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Price Performance

Shares of EPRT opened at $26.66 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.43 billion, a PE ratio of 21.50, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s 50-day moving average is $24.92 and its 200-day moving average is $24.01. Essential Properties Realty Trust has a fifty-two week low of $20.49 and a fifty-two week high of $26.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 5.01 and a quick ratio of 5.01.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.28%. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s payout ratio is 91.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essential Properties Realty Trust news, CEO Peter M. Mavoides sold 5,494 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.05, for a total transaction of $143,118.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 414,506 shares in the company, valued at $10,797,881.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Peter M. Mavoides sold 9,188 shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.01, for a total value of $238,979.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 554,904 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,433,053.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Peter M. Mavoides sold 5,494 shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust stock in a transaction on Monday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.05, for a total transaction of $143,118.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 414,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,797,881.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 67,636 shares of company stock worth $1,705,815 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Essential Properties Realty Trust

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 27,583,547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $649,317,000 after purchasing an additional 1,371,578 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,730,518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $534,921,000 after purchasing an additional 134,840 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,118,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $281,288,000 after purchasing an additional 92,469 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,514,224 shares of the company’s stock valued at $226,581,000 after purchasing an additional 347,171 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 36.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,015,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $130,110,000 after purchasing an additional 1,611,484 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.98% 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.