Stephen D. Sautel Sells 30,000 Shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) Stock

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) Director Stephen D. Sautel sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.99, for a total transaction of $959,700.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 218,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,998,932.15. The trade was a 12.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Price Performance

EPRT opened at $32.56 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $31.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.28. The company has a current ratio of 5.36, a quick ratio of 5.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.58 and a 1 year high of $34.88. The stock has a market cap of $6.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.56, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.40.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.14. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a return on equity of 6.12% and a net margin of 45.15%. Analysts forecast that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.295 per share. This is a positive change from Essential Properties Realty Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 103.51%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essential Properties Realty Trust

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Creative Planning raised its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 4.3% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 13,450 shares of the company’s stock valued at $459,000 after buying an additional 558 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 95.2% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 818 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 6,512.6% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 14,151 shares of the company’s stock worth $483,000 after purchasing an additional 13,937 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Essential Properties Realty Trust during the third quarter valued at approximately $406,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 57.4% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 13,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $474,000 after purchasing an additional 5,066 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. B. Riley lowered shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $29.50 to $33.50 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Mizuho lifted their target price 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. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.55.

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.