Boothbay Fund Management LLC Takes $599,000 Position in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)

Boothbay Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 19,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $599,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of EPRT. Selective Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. now owns 21,709 shares of the company’s stock worth $673,000 after buying an additional 395 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 50,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,592,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 74.5% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,096 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares during the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 18,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $574,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the period. Finally, United Services Automobile Association raised its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 11,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $350,000 after purchasing an additional 730 shares during the last quarter. 96.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. B. Riley cut shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $29.50 to $33.50 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays cut 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 report on Tuesday, February 4th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Capital One Financial initiated coverage on Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $35.00 target price for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.91.

Insider Activity at Essential Properties Realty Trust

In other Essential Properties Realty Trust news, Director Stephen D. Sautel sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 218,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,998,932.15. This represents a 12.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Performance

Shares of EPRT opened at $32.20 on Thursday. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $26.07 and a 12-month high of $34.88. The stock has a market cap of $6.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.25, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 5.36, a quick ratio of 5.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a 50-day moving average of $31.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.08.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $129.35 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $124.88 million. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a net margin of 45.15% and a return on equity of 6.12%. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s quarterly revenue was up 24.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 102.61%.

Essential Properties Realty Trust 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.