Vestcor Inc Makes New $98,000 Investment in EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR)

Vestcor Inc bought a new position in EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 2,209 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $98,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in EPR. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in EPR Properties in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of EPR Properties during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of EPR Properties by 36.6% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of EPR Properties by 54.5% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,296 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of EPR Properties by 51.8% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,530 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. 74.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other EPR Properties news, SVP Brian Andrew Moriarty sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.99, for a total value of $129,975.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $795,395.01. The trade was a 14.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Tonya L. Mater sold 3,120 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.90, for a total value of $161,928.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 46,827 shares in the company, valued at $2,430,321.30. This represents a 6.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,520 shares of company stock valued at $502,581. Insiders own 2.13% of the company’s stock.

EPR Properties Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of EPR Properties stock opened at $51.80 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.18. EPR Properties has a 12-month low of $39.66 and a 12-month high of $54.25. The company has a market capitalization of $3.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.42 and a beta of 1.72. The company has a current ratio of 7.81, a quick ratio of 7.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.56. EPR Properties had a return on equity of 8.22% and a net margin of 28.87%. The business had revenue of $149.12 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $161.25 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that EPR Properties will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EPR Properties Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.83%. This is a boost from EPR Properties’s previous monthly dividend of $0.29. EPR Properties’s payout ratio is currently 221.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on EPR. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on EPR Properties from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on EPR Properties from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on EPR Properties from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on EPR Properties from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.75.

About EPR Properties

EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR) is the leading diversified experiential net lease real estate investment trust (REIT), specializing in select enduring experiential properties in the real estate industry. We focus on real estate venues that create value by facilitating out of home leisure and recreation experiences where consumers choose to spend their discretionary time and money.