Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Purchases 5,566 Shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 95,819 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,566 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned 0.05% of Essential Properties Realty Trust worth $2,997,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EPRT. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 95.2% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 818 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 399 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 74.5% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,096 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 468 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 215.4% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,211 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 827 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in Essential Properties Realty Trust in the third quarter valued at about $79,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 58.6% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,218 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,000 after acquiring an additional 1,189 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Essential Properties Realty Trust

In other news, Director Stephen D. Sautel sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.54, for a total value of $406,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 178,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,817,663.90. This trade represents a 6.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.81% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Capital One Financial began coverage on Essential Properties Realty Trust in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of 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. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, B. Riley lowered shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $29.50 to $33.50 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.55.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Price Performance

NYSE:EPRT opened at $32.56 on Friday. 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 market cap of $6.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.40. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.28.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 6.12% and a net margin of 45.15%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.83 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, January 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Essential Properties Realty Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 103.51%.

Essential Properties Realty Trust 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.