Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) COO Robert Jenkins Sells 22,000 Shares of Stock

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) COO Robert Jenkins sold 22,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 34,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,100,892.96. The trade was a 39.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE EPRT opened at $32.11 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.47. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $28.95 and a 52-week high of $34.73. The firm has a market cap of $6.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 8.17, a current ratio of 8.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

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

Essential Properties Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. This is an increase from Essential Properties Realty Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.22%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essential Properties Realty Trust

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EPRT. Cohen & Steers Inc. boosted its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 111.6% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 18,611,967 shares of the company’s stock valued at $552,031,000 after purchasing an additional 9,816,042 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,131,871 shares of the company’s stock worth $358,488,000 after buying an additional 843,877 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,844,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $232,670,000 after buying an additional 421,364 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 1,930,360.7% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 6,737,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $199,829,000 after buying an additional 6,736,959 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,240,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $155,452,000 after buying an additional 25,857 shares during the period. 96.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 20th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $34.00 to $33.00 in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Barclays lowered their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $36.25 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and eleven have issued a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Essential Properties Realty Trust presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $36.11.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Company Profile

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.