Meritage Portfolio Management Raises Stock Position in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)

Meritage Portfolio Management boosted its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT - Free Report) by 1,101.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 168,434 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 154,410 shares during the quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management owned about 0.10% of Essential Properties Realty Trust worth $5,752,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 95.2% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 818 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 4.3% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 13,450 shares of the company's stock worth $459,000 after purchasing an additional 558 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 8.2% in the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 7,890 shares of the company's stock valued at $269,000 after purchasing an additional 597 shares during the period. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC raised its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 12,879 shares of the company's stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 654 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 122.9% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,244 shares of the company's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 686 shares during the period. 96.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Essential Properties Realty Trust

In other Essential Properties Realty Trust news, CEO Peter M. Mavoides sold 27,817 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.33, for a total transaction of $899,323.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 446,076 shares in the company, valued at $14,421,637.08. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.81% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Up 3.1 %

NYSE EPRT traded up $1.00 on Friday, reaching $33.09. The company had a trading volume of 2,591,511 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,115,729. 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 company's fifty day moving average is $32.92 and its 200 day moving average is $30.01. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.32 and a 52-week high of $34.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.37.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.16). Essential Properties Realty Trust had a return on equity of 6.20% and a net margin of 46.00%. The firm had revenue of $117.13 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $109.73 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 27.8% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.51%. Essential Properties Realty Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EPRT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Essential Properties Realty Trust presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $32.83.

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.