Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) Short Interest Up 13.7% in September

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 17,170,000 shares, a growth of 13.7% from the August 31st total of 15,100,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,410,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 12.2 days.

Insider Transactions at Essential Properties Realty Trust

In other news, CEO Peter M. Mavoides sold 20,863 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.54, for a total value of $574,567.02. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 514,464 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,168,338.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Peter M. Mavoides sold 20,863 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.54, for a total transaction of $574,567.02. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 514,464 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,168,338.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Peter M. Mavoides sold 12,712 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.03, for a total transaction of $356,317.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 500,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,030,472.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 62,592 shares of company stock worth $1,863,808. Company insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essential Properties Realty Trust

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EPRT. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 5,380.1% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,881,960 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,149,000 after buying an additional 1,847,618 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 18.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,931,196 shares of the company’s stock valued at $253,841,000 after purchasing an additional 1,543,346 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 4.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,377,389 shares of the company’s stock valued at $676,561,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060,079 shares during the last quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. purchased a new stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust during the second quarter valued at about $21,274,000. Finally, Hazelview Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 112.9% during the first quarter. Hazelview Securities Inc. now owns 867,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,731,000 after purchasing an additional 460,065 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on EPRT shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $32.00 to $36.25 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a report on Friday, June 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $33.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.13.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Performance

NYSE EPRT opened at $34.15 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.76, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $31.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 4.90 and a quick ratio of 4.90. Essential Properties Realty Trust has a 1 year low of $20.49 and a 1 year high of $34.51.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $109.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $102.99 million. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a net margin of 48.12% and a return on equity of 6.28%. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s quarterly revenue was up 26.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.41 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Essential Properties Realty Trust will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s payout ratio is currently 94.31%.

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.