Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Acquires 141,612 Shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) by 5.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,829,776 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 141,612 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust were worth $96,637,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 95.2% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 818 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the period. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 13,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $459,000 after buying an additional 558 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 7,890 shares of the company’s stock valued at $269,000 after buying an additional 597 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 122.9% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,244 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 686 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 7.8% during the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 10,673 shares of the company’s stock worth $296,000 after acquiring an additional 772 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on EPRT shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $32.00 to $36.25 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Properties Realty Trust currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.44.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Peter M. Mavoides sold 27,817 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.33, for a total transaction of $899,323.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 446,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,421,637.08. This trade represents a 5.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of EPRT stock opened at $33.98 on Wednesday. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.42 and a fifty-two week high of $34.51. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $33.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 5.59 and a current ratio of 5.59. The company has a market cap of $5.96 billion, a PE ratio of 29.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.37.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $117.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.73 million. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a net margin of 46.00% and a return on equity of 6.20%. The business’s revenue was up 27.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s payout ratio is presently 100.87%.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Company Profile

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.