Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. lifted its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT - Free Report) by 56.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 27,279 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,880 shares during the period. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust were worth $853,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Creative Planning raised its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 13,450 shares of the company's stock valued at $459,000 after purchasing an additional 558 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 6,512.6% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 14,151 shares of the company's stock valued at $483,000 after buying an additional 13,937 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 12.3% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 30,152 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,022,000 after buying an additional 3,309 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 7.2% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 374,217 shares of the company's stock worth $12,780,000 after buying an additional 25,289 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 16.1% in the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 74,029 shares of the company's stock worth $2,528,000 after buying an additional 10,242 shares in the last quarter. 96.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. 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 report on Thursday, November 14th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. B. Riley downgraded Essential Properties Realty Trust from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $29.50 to $33.50 in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Essential Properties Realty Trust in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set a "buy" rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. Finally, Capital One Financial initiated coverage on Essential Properties Realty Trust in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $34.48.

Insider Transactions at Essential Properties Realty Trust

In other news, Director Stephen D. Sautel sold 12,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.54, for a total transaction of $406,750.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 178,785 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,817,663.90. This trade represents a 6.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.81% of the company's stock.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust stock traded up $0.56 during trading on Friday, hitting $32.29. The stock had a trading volume of 1,493,883 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,220,900. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.72 and a 12 month high of $34.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 5.36 and a quick ratio of 5.36. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $31.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.39. The stock has a market cap of $6.06 billion, a PE ratio of 28.32, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.36.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts expect 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 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. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.65%. 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. Essential Properties Realty Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 103.51%.

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.