Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Has $85.49 Million Stock Position in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT - Free Report) by 33.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,503,405 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 621,445 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 1.43% of Essential Properties Realty Trust worth $85,491,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in EPRT. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted 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 buying an additional 372,040 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 244.3% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 427,118 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,958,000 after purchasing an additional 303,057 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in 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 in the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 31.4% during the first quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 157,731 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,205,000 after purchasing an additional 37,729 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 9.6% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 193,228 shares of the company's stock worth $5,354,000 after buying an additional 16,978 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.98% of the company's stock.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Price Performance

EPRT stock traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $33.47. 739,022 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,209,506. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.42 and a 52 week high of $34.51. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $33.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 5.59 and a quick ratio of 5.59. The stock 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.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). Essential Properties Realty Trust had a net margin of 46.00% and a return on equity of 6.20%. The firm had revenue of $117.13 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.73 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.42 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 27.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.47%. Essential Properties Realty Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Peter M. Mavoides sold 27,817 shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 446,076 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,421,637.08. The trade was a 5.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on EPRT shares. Wedbush started coverage on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research note on Monday, August 19th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $34.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI lifted their target price 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. Raymond James increased 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. Mizuho lifted 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. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Essential Properties Realty Trust presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $33.37.

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.