abrdn plc Increases Stock Position in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)

abrdn plc lifted its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT - Free Report) by 63.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 57,477 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 22,353 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc's holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust were worth $1,794,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 26.5% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 244,424 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,347,000 after purchasing an additional 51,196 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 33.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,503,405 shares of the company's stock worth $85,491,000 after acquiring an additional 621,445 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 4.0% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,712,800 shares of the company's stock worth $58,492,000 after acquiring an additional 66,058 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 118.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 297,989 shares of the company's stock worth $10,176,000 after acquiring an additional 161,697 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 1.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,138,674 shares of the company's stock worth $141,336,000 after acquiring an additional 76,475 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.98% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on EPRT. UBS Group raised their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Mizuho raised their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Capital One Financial began coverage on Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research note on Wednesday. They set an "overweight" rating and a $35.00 target price for the company. Barclays cut their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set a "buy" rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $34.25.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE:EPRT traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $31.26. The company had a trading volume of 1,113,722 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,042,487. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.18, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.40. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $31.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.11. 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 current ratio of 5.59, a quick ratio of 5.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.14. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a return on equity of 6.20% and a net margin of 46.00%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.77%. This is a boost from Essential Properties Realty Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Essential Properties Realty Trust's payout ratio is 102.61%.

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.