Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) Earns Overweight Rating from Analysts at Barclays

Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued an overweight rating and a $35.94 target price on the stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on EPRT. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wedbush started coverage on Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research note on Monday, August 19th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $34.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James lifted their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.91.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Performance

NYSE:EPRT opened at $30.82 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $33.00 and its 200 day moving average is $31.23. The firm has a market cap of $5.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.80, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 5.59 and a current ratio of 5.59. Essential Properties Realty Trust has a 52-week low of $23.58 and a 52-week high of $34.88.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.16). Essential Properties Realty Trust had a net margin of 46.00% and a return on equity of 6.20%. The company had revenue of $117.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.73 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 27.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Essential Properties Realty Trust will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.83%. This is a positive change from Essential Properties Realty Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s payout ratio is presently 102.61%.

Institutional Trading of Essential Properties Realty Trust

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CWM LLC lifted its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 122.9% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,244 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 686 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 9.6% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 193,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,354,000 after purchasing an additional 16,978 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 14.1% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 88,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,444,000 after purchasing an additional 10,900 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,966,304 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,486,000 after purchasing an additional 169,222 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 91,712 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,541,000 after buying an additional 7,213 shares during the last quarter. 96.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.