Stephen D. Sautel Sells 12,500 Shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) Stock

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) Director Stephen D. Sautel sold 12,500 shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust 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 transaction, the director now owns 178,785 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,817,663.90. This trade represents a 6.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EPRT opened at $32.56 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $31.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.28. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.58 and a 1-year high of $34.88. The firm has a market capitalization 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. The company has a current ratio of 5.36, a quick ratio of 5.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.14. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a net margin of 45.15% and a return on equity of 6.12%. Equities research analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s payout ratio is presently 103.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price target on the stock. Capital One Financial assumed coverage on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $35.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. B. Riley lowered shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $29.50 to $33.50 in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.55.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essential Properties Realty Trust

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 26.5% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 244,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,347,000 after acquiring an additional 51,196 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 33.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,503,405 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,491,000 after acquiring an additional 621,445 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 4.0% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,712,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,492,000 after acquiring an additional 66,058 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 118.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 297,989 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,176,000 after acquiring an additional 161,697 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 1.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,138,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,336,000 after acquiring an additional 76,475 shares in the last quarter. 96.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Company 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.