Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) Shares Sold by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp trimmed its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) by 0.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,481,254 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,542 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.75% of Essential Properties Realty Trust worth $48,348,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Essential Properties Realty Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $83,341,000. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 237.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,100,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,703,000 after buying an additional 1,478,451 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 33.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,651,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $145,506,000 after acquiring an additional 1,178,284 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,085,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Essential Properties Realty Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $21,438,000. 96.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essential Properties Realty Trust

In related news, VP A Joseph Peil sold 13,227 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.96, for a total value of $435,961.92. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 76,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,524,406.40. The trade was a 14.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.81% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on EPRT. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $37.00 price objective (up previously from $35.00) on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $40.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Essential Properties Realty Trust currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.06.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Performance

NYSE:EPRT opened at $31.58 on Monday. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $27.44 and a twelve month high of $34.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.46, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 7.76, a quick ratio of 7.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.78.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 44.62% and a return on equity of 6.13%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. 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 dividend yield of 3.80%. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.