Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) Director Sells $959,700.00 in Stock

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) Director Stephen D. Sautel sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.99, for a total transaction of $959,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 218,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,998,932.15. This represents a 12.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Performance

Shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust stock opened at $32.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 5.36 and a quick ratio of 5.36. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.28. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two week high of $34.88. The firm has a market cap of $6.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.40.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.14. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a return on equity of 6.12% and a net margin of 45.15%. Sell-side analysts predict that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Essential Properties Realty Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 103.51%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 228.5% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 44,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,385,000 after buying an additional 30,794 shares during the period. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $100,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 252,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,912,000 after purchasing an additional 2,051 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,130,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,364,000 after purchasing an additional 44,041 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 57.6% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 137,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,288,000 after purchasing an additional 50,100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EPRT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays lowered 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 report on Tuesday, February 4th. Capital One Financial began coverage on Essential Properties Realty Trust in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company. Finally, B. Riley lowered shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price 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 twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.55.

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.