Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Position in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT - Free Report) by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,479,342 shares of the company's stock after selling 175,499 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 1.41% of Essential Properties Realty Trust worth $84,670,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 29.2% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,646,742 shares of the company's stock worth $45,631,000 after buying an additional 372,040 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in 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 worth $8,347,000 after acquiring an additional 51,196 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 33.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,503,405 shares of the company's stock valued at $85,491,000 after acquiring an additional 621,445 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 118.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 297,989 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,176,000 after purchasing an additional 161,697 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 76,475 shares during the last quarter. 96.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EPRT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set a "buy" rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho lifted their target price 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, Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $35.94 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $33.91.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of EPRT stock traded up $0.71 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $31.53. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,107,998 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,328,098. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $23.58 and a one year high of $34.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.38. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $32.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.29.

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 net margin of 46.00% and a return on equity of 6.20%. The company had revenue of $117.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.73 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. The business's revenue was up 27.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. This is an increase from Essential Properties Realty Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.74%. Essential Properties Realty Trust's dividend 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.