Bastion Asset Management Inc. Buys New Stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)

Bastion Asset Management Inc. 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 fund purchased 10,384 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $325,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 118.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 297,989 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,176,000 after purchasing an additional 161,697 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in the 4th quarter worth approximately $287,000. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 38.6% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 94,169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,946,000 after acquiring an additional 26,234 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 6.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,594,775 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,462,000 after acquiring an additional 98,467 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,872,955 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,866,000 after purchasing an additional 43,179 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Essential Properties Realty Trust

In related news, Director Stephen D. Sautel sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.54, for a total transaction of $406,750.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 178,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,817,663.90. This trade represents a 6.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EPRT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Scotiabank decreased their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Barclays lowered their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Capital One Financial initiated coverage on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $35.00 price target for the company. Finally, B. Riley cut shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $29.50 to $33.50 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Properties Realty Trust presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.91.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Performance

Shares of EPRT opened at $31.97 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.31 billion, a PE ratio of 28.04, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 5.36 and a current ratio of 5.36. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $31.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.05. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $26.07 and a 52 week high of $34.88.

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

Essential Properties Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.69%. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 102.61%.

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.