Prudent Man Advisors LLC Sells 1,189 Shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)

Prudent Man Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) by 9.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,196 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,189 shares during the period. Prudent Man Advisors LLC’s holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust were worth $350,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Selective Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. now owns 21,709 shares of the company’s stock worth $673,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 95.2% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 818 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 74.5% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,096 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 8.6% in the third quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 6,815 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,000 after purchasing an additional 542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning raised 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.98% of the company’s stock.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Price Performance

EPRT opened at $32.66 on Friday. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $23.58 and a one year high of $34.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 5.36 and a quick ratio of 5.36. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.40.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.14. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a net margin of 45.15% and a return on equity of 6.12%. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Essential Properties Realty Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s payout ratio is currently 103.51%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essential Properties Realty Trust news, Director Stephen D. Sautel sold 12,500 shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.54, for a total transaction of $406,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 178,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,817,663.90. The trade was a 6.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EPRT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. B. Riley lowered shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $29.50 to $33.50 in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essential Properties Realty Trust currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.48.

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.