Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) Sets New 1-Year Low – Here’s Why

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)’s share price reached a new 52-week low on Wednesday. The stock traded as low as $25.37 and last traded at $25.4060, with a volume of 196101 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $25.58.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays dropped their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings downgraded Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on shares of 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 reduced their price target on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Finally, Truist Financial assumed 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 for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Properties Realty Trust has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.20.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Trading Down 1.4%

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.50. The company has a current ratio of 8.17, a quick ratio of 8.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.45 billion, a PE ratio of 19.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.82.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.01. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a return on equity of 6.34% and a net margin of 43.51%.The business had revenue of $161.89 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.65 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Essential Properties Realty Trust has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.010-2.050 EPS. Analysts predict that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 99.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essential Properties Realty Trust

In other news, COO Robert M. Jenkins sold 22,000 shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.22, for a total value of $708,840.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 34,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,100,892.96. The trade was 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 this hyperlink. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essential Properties Realty Trust

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,183,153,000. Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 111.6% in the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 18,611,967 shares of the company’s stock valued at $552,031,000 after acquiring an additional 9,816,042 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 6.3% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,101,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,151,000 after acquiring an additional 184,196 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,771,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,156,000 after purchasing an additional 103,311 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust during the 2nd quarter worth $52,056,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.98% of the company’s stock.

About Essential Properties Realty Trust

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc is a real estate investment trust that owns and manages a diversified portfolio of single-tenant commercial properties. The company generally leases its properties to businesses under long-term, triple-net agreements, under which tenants are typically responsible for property taxes, insurance and maintenance expenses.

Essential Properties focuses primarily on service-oriented and experience-based businesses, including automotive services, health and fitness, medical and dental services, restaurants, early childhood education and other businesses that are often less suited to traditional retail real estate.