Stifel Financial Corp Cuts Stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)

Stifel Financial Corp lessened its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 172,430 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,561 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust were worth $5,888,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in the third quarter worth about $281,000. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $79,000. NFJ Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in the third quarter valued at $1,902,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 10.3% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 100,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,449,000 after purchasing an additional 9,420 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC raised its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 0.3% during the third quarter. Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC now owns 1,138,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,882,000 after purchasing an additional 3,910 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on EPRT. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $32.00 to $36.25 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.77.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of EPRT opened at $32.90 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.38. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.58 and a 12-month high of $34.88. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $33.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.11. The company has a current ratio of 5.59, a quick ratio of 5.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $117.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.73 million. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a net margin of 46.00% and a return on equity of 6.20%. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s quarterly revenue was up 27.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.59%. This is a boost from Essential Properties Realty Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.87%.

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.