Norges Bank Purchases New Shares in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. $EPRT

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 2,308,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,467,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of EPRT. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 1,930,360.7% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 6,737,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $199,829,000 after buying an additional 6,736,959 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 195.4% in the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,970,789 shares of the company’s stock valued at $118,171,000 after buying an additional 2,626,478 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 59.9% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,803,496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,812,000 after buying an additional 1,425,082 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 168.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,212,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,833,000 after buying an additional 1,388,289 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC raised its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 84.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 2,188,633 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,134,000 after buying an additional 1,003,177 shares during the last quarter. 96.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP A Joseph Peil sold 19,657 shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.10, for a total transaction of $630,989.70. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 76,525 shares in the company, valued at $2,456,452.50. The trade was a 20.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert Webb Salisbury sold 5,851 shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.88, for a total value of $186,529.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 8,310 shares in the company, valued at $264,922.80. The trade was a 41.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on EPRT. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Truist Financial increased their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.50.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Trading Up 2.2%

NYSE EPRT opened at $30.33 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.88, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.88. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $28.95 and a one year high of $34.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 5.12 and a quick ratio of 5.12. The business’s fifty day moving average is $31.31 and its 200-day moving average is $31.34.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $158.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $151.87 million. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a return on equity of 6.30% and a net margin of 43.46%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. Essential Properties Realty Trust has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.000-2.050 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.96 EPS for the current year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. This is a positive change from Essential Properties Realty Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 97.64%.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Company Profile

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc (NYSE: EPRT) is a self-administered real estate investment trust that acquires, owns and manages single-tenant commercial properties subject to long-term, triple-net leases. The company’s portfolio primarily consists of small-box retail and industrial assets, including convenience stores, automotive service centers, quick-service restaurants, fitness centers and other necessity-based businesses. Under a triple-net lease structure, tenants assume responsibility for property taxes, insurance and most maintenance expenses, providing Essential Properties with predictable, stable cash flows.

Since its founding in April 2016 and its initial public offering later that year, Essential Properties has pursued a growth strategy focused on partnering with creditworthy tenants operating in densely populated trade areas.