Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Acquires 51,196 Shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT - Free Report) by 26.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 244,424 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 51,196 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.14% of Essential Properties Realty Trust worth $8,347,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 4.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,377,389 shares of the company's stock valued at $676,561,000 after acquiring an additional 1,060,079 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,575,683 shares of the company's stock valued at $71,372,000 after purchasing an additional 264,052 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,966,304 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,486,000 after purchasing an additional 169,222 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 5,380.1% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,881,960 shares of the company's stock worth $52,149,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847,618 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 29.2% during 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 period. 96.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on EPRT shares. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Scotiabank increased their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Wedbush started coverage on Essential Properties Realty Trust in a report on Monday, August 19th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $34.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho upped their price objective on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Essential Properties Realty Trust has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $33.37.

Insider Activity at Essential Properties Realty Trust

In other Essential Properties Realty Trust news, CEO Peter M. Mavoides sold 27,817 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 446,076 shares in the company, valued at $14,421,637.08. This trade represents a 5.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.81% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Up 1.6 %

EPRT traded up $0.53 during trading on Monday, reaching $33.39. 894,158 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,338,137. The stock has a market cap of $5.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.03, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 stock's 50 day moving average price is $33.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.30. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $23.10 and a twelve month high of $34.51.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $117.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.73 million. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a net margin of 46.00% and a return on equity of 6.20%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 27.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Announces Dividend

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

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.