London Co. of Virginia Sells 3,845 Shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)

London Co. of Virginia decreased its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,105,461 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,845 shares during the quarter. London Co. of Virginia’s holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust were worth $34,579,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Essential Properties Realty Trust during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 74.5% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,096 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 468 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position 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 worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 1,119 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 439.4% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 1,182 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 275.5% in the 4th 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Essential Properties Realty Trust

In other news, Director Stephen D. Sautel sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.99, for a total transaction of $959,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 218,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,998,932.15. This represents a 12.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on EPRT. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. B. Riley cut shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $29.50 to $33.50 in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Capital One Financial assumed coverage on Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $35.00 target price for the company. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.91.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust stock opened at $32.13 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.97. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $26.07 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.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.01). Essential Properties Realty Trust had a return on equity of 6.12% and a net margin of 45.15%. The firm had revenue of $129.35 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $124.88 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.42 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 24.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.67%. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 102.61%.

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.