Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) Issues Earnings Results

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.18, Zacks reports. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a return on equity of 6.34% and a net margin of 43.51%. The company had revenue of $168.67 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $158.17 million.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Down 3.5%

Shares of NYSE:EPRT traded down $0.90 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $24.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,006,276 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,065,665. Essential Properties Realty Trust has a fifty-two week low of $24.62 and a fifty-two week high of $34.73. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $28.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 8.17 and a current ratio of 8.17. The company has a market capitalization of $5.38 billion, a PE ratio of 19.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.82.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.1%. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s payout ratio is 99.22%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Robert M. Jenkins sold 22,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.22, for a total value of $708,840.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 34,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,100,892.96. This trade represents a 39.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $38.00 to $28.00 in a report on Tuesday. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $36.25 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research note on Thursday, October 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.57.

About Essential Properties Realty Trust

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc (NYSE:EPRT) is an internally managed real estate investment trust that acquires, owns and manages single-tenant commercial properties. The company primarily leases these properties to middle-market businesses under long-term, net lease agreements, which generally require tenants to pay a substantial portion of the property’s operating expenses, including taxes, insurance and maintenance.

EPRT’s portfolio is diversified across businesses such as automotive services, medical services, restaurants, retail, early childhood education and other service-oriented industries.