Wells Fargo & Company Has Lowered Expectations for Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) Stock Price

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) had its target price reduced by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $37.00 to $34.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 7.46% from the company’s previous close.

EPRT has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $32.00 to $36.25 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Raymond James increased their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Wedbush began coverage on Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research report on Monday, August 19th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $34.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Properties Realty Trust has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.83.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EPRT opened at $31.64 on Monday. Essential Properties Realty Trust has a 1 year low of $22.32 and a 1 year high of $34.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.37. The company’s 50-day moving average is $32.88 and its 200 day moving average is $29.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 5.59 and a quick ratio of 5.59.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Peter M. Mavoides sold 27,817 shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.33, for a total value of $899,323.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 446,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,421,637.08. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essential Properties Realty Trust

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EPRT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 4.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,377,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $676,561,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060,079 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 51.0% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 281,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,530,000 after acquiring an additional 94,970 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 298.0% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 64,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,717,000 after acquiring an additional 48,231 shares during the period. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new position in Essential Properties Realty Trust in the 1st quarter valued at $1,002,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 29.2% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,646,742 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,631,000 after acquiring an additional 372,040 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.98% of the company’s stock.

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.