Insider Selling: Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) Director Sells 12,500 Shares of Stock

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) Director Stephen D. Sautel sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.54, for a total transaction of $406,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 178,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,817,663.90. The trade was a 6.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE EPRT traded down $0.04 on Wednesday, reaching $32.46. 1,046,958 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,138,993. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $23.58 and a 12 month high of $34.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 5.36 and a current ratio of 5.36. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $31.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.28. The company has a market cap of $6.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.47, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.40.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.295 dividend. This is an increase from Essential Properties Realty Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.64%. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s payout ratio is 103.51%.

Institutional Trading of Essential Properties Realty Trust

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EPRT. Selective Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. now owns 21,709 shares of the company’s stock valued at $673,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 95.2% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 818 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 50,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,592,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in 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 valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 468 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 8.6% in the third quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 6,815 shares of the company’s stock valued at $233,000 after acquiring an additional 542 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on EPRT. UBS Group raised their price objective on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. B. Riley cut shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $29.50 to $33.50 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Properties Realty Trust has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.55.

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.