Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) Director Stephen D. Sautel Sells 12,500 Shares

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) Director Stephen D. Sautel sold 12,500 shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.54, for a total transaction of $406,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 178,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,817,663.90. This trade represents a 6.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Price Performance

NYSE:EPRT opened at $32.46 on Thursday. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.58 and a 52 week high of $34.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 5.36 and a current ratio of 5.36. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.28. The firm has a market cap of $6.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.40.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.14. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a net margin of 45.15% and a return on equity of 6.12%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Essential Properties Realty Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.64%. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s payout ratio is currently 103.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Mizuho increased their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essential Properties Realty Trust currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.55.

Institutional Trading of Essential Properties Realty Trust

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Essential Properties Realty Trust in the fourth quarter valued at about $83,341,000. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. bought a new position in Essential Properties Realty Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at about $69,473,000. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 237.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,100,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,703,000 after buying an additional 1,478,451 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 33.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,651,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,506,000 after buying an additional 1,178,284 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,085,000. 96.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.