Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Acquires New Holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. $EPRT

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 93,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,827,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 82.0% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 899 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares during the period. First Horizon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 146.9% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 1,131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 673 shares during the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 664.4% during the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 1,590 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 1,382 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 273.6% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,614 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 1,182 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 1,009.0% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 1,574 shares during the period. 96.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EPRT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $36.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Barclays upped their price objective on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $36.41.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Performance

EPRT opened at $30.70 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 5.12, a quick ratio of 5.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $30.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.64 billion, a PE ratio of 24.17, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.88. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $28.95 and a twelve month high of $34.73.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $158.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $151.87 million. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a return on equity of 6.30% and a net margin of 43.46%.The firm’s revenue was up 22.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share. Essential Properties Realty Trust has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.000-2.050 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This is an increase from Essential Properties Realty Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 97.64%.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Company Profile

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc (NYSE: EPRT) is a self-administered real estate investment trust that acquires, owns and manages single-tenant commercial properties subject to long-term, triple-net leases. The company’s portfolio primarily consists of small-box retail and industrial assets, including convenience stores, automotive service centers, quick-service restaurants, fitness centers and other necessity-based businesses. Under a triple-net lease structure, tenants assume responsibility for property taxes, insurance and most maintenance expenses, providing Essential Properties with predictable, stable cash flows.

Since its founding in April 2016 and its initial public offering later that year, Essential Properties has pursued a growth strategy focused on partnering with creditworthy tenants operating in densely populated trade areas.