Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Has $6.51 Million Holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) by 25.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 190,631 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 38,380 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC owned 0.11% of Essential Properties Realty Trust worth $6,510,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 95.2% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 818 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 4.3% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 13,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $459,000 after purchasing an additional 558 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 8.2% in the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 7,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $269,000 after purchasing an additional 597 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 122.9% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,244 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 686 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 7.8% in the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 10,673 shares of the company’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 772 shares during the period. 96.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EPRT opened at $33.01 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 5.59 and a quick ratio of 5.59. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $32.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.12. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $22.32 and a one year high of $34.51. The firm has a market cap of $5.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.37.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last released its earnings results 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). Essential Properties Realty Trust had a return on equity of 6.20% and a net margin of 46.00%. The company had revenue of $117.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.73 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essential Properties Realty Trust

In other news, CEO Peter M. Mavoides sold 27,817 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 446,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,421,637.08. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on EPRT. Wedbush initiated 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 for the company. Truist Financial lifted their price objective 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. Raymond James lifted their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $32.00 to $36.25 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.83.

About Essential Properties Realty Trust

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.