Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) Shares Bought by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) by 38.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 94,169 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 26,234 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS owned approximately 0.05% of Essential Properties Realty Trust worth $2,946,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 74.5% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,096 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 468 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 1,834.4% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 1,119 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 215.4% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,211 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 827 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust during the third quarter worth approximately $79,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 275.5% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,456 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 1,802 shares in the last quarter. 96.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE:EPRT opened at $32.31 on Tuesday. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.72 and a 12-month high of $34.88. The company has a current ratio of 5.36, a quick ratio of 5.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.39. The firm has a market cap of $6.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.34, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.36.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.14. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a net margin of 45.15% and a return on equity of 6.12%. Equities analysts anticipate that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.295 dividend. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 103.51%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essential Properties Realty Trust news, Director Stephen D. Sautel sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.54, for a total value of $406,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 178,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,817,663.90. This trade represents a 6.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated 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 objective for the company. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Capital One Financial initiated coverage on Essential Properties Realty Trust in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank cut their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, B. Riley cut Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $29.50 to $33.50 in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essential Properties Realty Trust has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.91.

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.