First Trust Advisors LP Has $2.14 Million Stock Position in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. $EPRT

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) by 71.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 70,566 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,388 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust were worth $2,142,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in EPRT. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 111.6% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 18,611,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $552,031,000 after buying an additional 9,816,042 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 8.2% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,131,871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,488,000 after acquiring an additional 843,877 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,844,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,670,000 after acquiring an additional 421,364 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 1,930,360.7% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 6,737,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $199,829,000 after acquiring an additional 6,736,959 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,240,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $155,452,000 after acquiring an additional 25,857 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on EPRT shares. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of 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. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Scotiabank raised Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $34.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 20th. 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 company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $36.20.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Price Performance

Shares of EPRT opened at $30.60 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $30.95 and its 200-day moving average is $31.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 8.17 and a quick ratio of 8.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.62 billion, a PE ratio of 23.72, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.86. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $28.95 and a fifty-two week high of $34.73.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.01. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a net margin of 43.51% and a return on equity of 6.34%. The business had revenue of $161.89 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $156.65 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s revenue 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. Equities analysts forecast that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.97 EPS for the current year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. This is a boost from Essential Properties Realty Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 99.22%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Robert M. Jenkins sold 22,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.22, for a total transaction of $708,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 34,168 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Essential Properties Realty Trust

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.