Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. Makes New Investment in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. $EPRT

Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 151,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,513,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust during the second quarter worth approximately $1,183,153,000. Cohen & Steers Inc. grew its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 111.6% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 18,611,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $552,031,000 after buying an additional 9,816,042 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 1,930,360.7% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 6,737,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $199,829,000 after buying an additional 6,736,959 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 4,681.4% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 3,997,593 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,569,000 after buying an additional 3,913,986 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 195.4% during the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,970,789 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,171,000 after acquiring an additional 2,626,478 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.98% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essential Properties Realty Trust news, COO Robert M. Jenkins sold 22,000 shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.22, for a total value of $708,840.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 34,168 shares in the company, valued at $1,100,892.96. The trade was a 39.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.77% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of EPRT opened at $30.88 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 8.17 and a quick ratio of 8.17. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $28.95 and a one year high of $34.73. The company has a market cap of $6.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.86.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.01. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a return on equity of 6.34% and a net margin of 43.51%.The firm had revenue of $161.89 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $156.65 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.46 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Essential Properties Realty Trust has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.010-2.050 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. This is a boost from Essential Properties Realty Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s payout ratio is 99.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on EPRT. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Weiss Ratings raised Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen cut Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Barclays dropped their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank raised shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $34.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and eleven have given a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.20.

About Essential Properties Realty Trust

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc (NYSE: EPRT) is a self-administered real estate investment trust that acquires, owns and manages single-tenant commercial properties subject to long-term, triple-net leases. The company’s portfolio primarily consists of small-box retail and industrial assets, including convenience stores, automotive service centers, quick-service restaurants, fitness centers and other necessity-based businesses. Under a triple-net lease structure, tenants assume responsibility for property taxes, insurance and most maintenance expenses, providing Essential Properties with predictable, stable cash flows.

Since its founding in April 2016 and its initial public offering later that year, Essential Properties has pursued a growth strategy focused on partnering with creditworthy tenants operating in densely populated trade areas.