Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Lowers Holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. $EPRT

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lowered its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) by 16.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 232,431 shares of the company’s stock after selling 44,171 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned about 0.11% of Essential Properties Realty Trust worth $7,057,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 159.4% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 74,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,420,000 after acquiring an additional 45,561 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 21.8% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 22,244 shares of the company’s stock valued at $726,000 after acquiring an additional 3,981 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 16.4% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,387,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,279,000 after acquiring an additional 195,057 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new position in Essential Properties Realty Trust in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,350,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 28.4% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 145,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,652,000 after purchasing an additional 32,254 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Essential Properties Realty Trust

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

Essential Properties Realty Trust Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of EPRT stock opened at $32.11 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 8.17 and a quick ratio of 8.17. The company has a market cap of $6.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.89, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.47. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.95 and a 1-year high of $34.73.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $156.65 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Essential Properties Realty Trust has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.010-2.050 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This is a positive change from Essential Properties Realty Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s payout ratio is 99.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on EPRT shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $36.25 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $34.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and eleven have given a Buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essential Properties Realty Trust has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus 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.