Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Here’s Why

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)’s share price reached a new 52-week low on Wednesday. The stock traded as low as $25.37 and last traded at $25.4060, with a volume of 196101 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $25.58.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $36.25 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Barclays cut 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 report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essential Properties Realty Trust has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.20.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $28.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.41 billion, a PE ratio of 19.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 8.17, a quick ratio of 8.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.01. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a return on equity of 6.34% and a net margin of 43.51%.The company had revenue of $161.89 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $156.65 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.46 earnings per share. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s quarterly 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. Research analysts anticipate that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.1%. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s payout ratio is 99.22%.

Insider Transactions at Essential Properties Realty Trust

In other Essential Properties Realty Trust news, COO Robert M. Jenkins sold 22,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.22, for a total transaction of $708,840.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 34,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,100,892.96. This trade represents a 39.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Essential Properties Realty Trust

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 47.8% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust in the 2nd quarter worth $41,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 273.6% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,614 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 1,182 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 79.3% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 713 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 100.6% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,824 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 1,416 shares in the last quarter. 96.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Essential Properties Realty Trust

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc is a real estate investment trust that owns and manages a diversified portfolio of single-tenant commercial properties. The company generally leases its properties to businesses under long-term, triple-net agreements, under which tenants are typically responsible for property taxes, insurance and maintenance expenses.

Essential Properties focuses primarily on service-oriented and experience-based businesses, including automotive services, health and fitness, medical and dental services, restaurants, early childhood education and other businesses that are often less suited to traditional retail real estate.