Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) saw a significant drop in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 12,250,000 shares, a drop of 36.7% from the December 15th total of 19,350,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,180,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 10.4 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on EPRT shares. Mizuho boosted their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial upped their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $32.00 to $36.25 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.91.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Performance

Shares of EPRT traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $31.83. The company had a trading volume of 229,844 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,107,208. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.70, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.39. Essential Properties Realty Trust has a 52-week low of $23.58 and a 52-week high of $34.88. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $32.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.78. The company has a quick ratio of 5.59, a current ratio of 5.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.16). Essential Properties Realty Trust had a net margin of 46.00% and a return on equity of 6.20%. The company had revenue of $117.13 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.73 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Essential Properties Realty Trust will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.295 dividend. This is a boost from Essential Properties Realty Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 102.61%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EPRT. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 95.2% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 818 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 74.5% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,096 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 611.3% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 1,027 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 215.4% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,211 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 827 shares during the period. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in the third quarter valued at about $79,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.98% of the company’s stock.

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.