Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Grows Stock Position in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) by 33.0% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,503,405 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 621,445 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust were worth $85,491,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 29.2% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,646,742 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,631,000 after purchasing an additional 372,040 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 244.3% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 427,118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,958,000 after buying an additional 303,057 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 26.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 244,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,347,000 after buying an additional 51,196 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 31.4% in the 1st quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 157,731 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,205,000 after buying an additional 37,729 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 9.6% in the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 193,228 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,354,000 after acquiring an additional 16,978 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Essential Properties Realty Trust

In other news, CEO Peter M. Mavoides sold 27,817 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.33, for a total value of $899,323.61. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 446,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,421,637.08. The trade was a 5.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.81% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on EPRT. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Wedbush initiated coverage on Essential Properties Realty Trust in a report on Monday, August 19th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $34.00 price target for the company. Two 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 stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.37.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Price Performance

EPRT stock opened at $33.47 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.87 billion, a PE ratio of 29.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 5.59, a current ratio of 5.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $33.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.46. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $23.42 and a 52-week high of $34.51.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $117.13 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.73 million. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a net margin of 46.00% and a return on equity of 6.20%. The company’s revenue was up 27.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.87%.

Essential Properties Realty Trust 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.