Teacher Retirement System of Texas Purchases 19,715 Shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) by 107.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,980 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,715 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust were worth $1,240,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 4.3% in the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 8,085 shares of the company’s stock worth $264,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 18,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $574,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association boosted its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 11,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $350,000 after acquiring an additional 730 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 46,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,447,000 after acquiring an additional 851 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. boosted its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 13,380 shares of the company’s stock worth $419,000 after acquiring an additional 874 shares in the last quarter. 96.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on EPRT. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $37.00 target price (up from $35.00) on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $40.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Essential Properties Realty Trust news, VP A Joseph Peil sold 13,227 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.96, for a total transaction of $435,961.92. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 76,590 shares in the company, valued at $2,524,406.40. This trade represents a 14.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE EPRT opened at $31.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 7.76 and a current ratio of 7.76. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $32.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.78. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.44 and a fifty-two week high of $34.88. The company has a market cap of $6.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.46, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.08.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $129.35 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $124.88 million. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a return on equity of 6.13% and a net margin of 44.62%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This is an increase from Essential Properties Realty Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 104.35%.

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.