Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. $EPRT Shares Bought by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) by 406.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,173,499 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 941,768 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust were worth $30,288,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at $164,000. Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust during the third quarter worth $402,000. State of Wyoming bought a new position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in the third quarter worth $118,000. Choreo LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 70.2% in the third quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 14,795 shares of the company’s stock worth $382,000 after acquiring an additional 6,100 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 7.2% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 428,894 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,070,000 after acquiring an additional 28,692 shares during the period. 96.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on EPRT. Wall Street Zen lowered Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 24th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 26th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Scotiabank reduced 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. Finally, Truist Financial assumed coverage on Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.46.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:EPRT opened at $28.33 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $27.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 4.94 and a quick ratio of 4.94. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $24.62 and a one year high of $34.73. The company has a market cap of $6.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.03, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.80.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $168.67 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $158.17 million. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a net margin of 41.03% and a return on equity of 5.95%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.48 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 104.07%.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Profile

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.