Insider Selling: 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 company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.99, for a total value of $959,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 218,785 shares in the company, valued at $6,998,932.15. This trade represents a 12.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE EPRT opened at $32.66 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.40. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $31.61 and its 200-day moving average is $32.30. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $23.58 and a one year high of $34.88.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 dividend yield of 3.61%. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 103.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on EPRT. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. 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 target price on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays cut their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.48.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EPRT. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 95.2% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 818 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 74.5% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,096 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 468 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 1,834.4% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,180 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 1,119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 215.4% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,211 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 827 shares in the last quarter. 96.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.