Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT - Free Report) by 88.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 298,576 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,356,265 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.17% of Essential Properties Realty Trust worth $10,189,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 95.2% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 818 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 399 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 611.3% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,195 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 1,027 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 122.9% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,244 shares of the company's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 686 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 116.4% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,945 shares of the company's stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.98% of the company's stock.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Price Performance

EPRT stock traded up $0.16 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $33.57. 192,729 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,333,034. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.10 and a 52 week high of $34.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 5.59 and a current ratio of 5.59. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.30.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.27 EPS 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 company had revenue of $117.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $109.73 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 27.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research 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 business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Essential Properties Realty Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on EPRT shares. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $32.00 to $36.25 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Mizuho boosted 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 note on Thursday, November 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Essential Properties Realty Trust currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $33.37.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.