Truist Financial Corp Purchases New Position in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)

Truist Financial Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 9,170 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $287,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EPRT. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $85,491,000 after acquiring an additional 621,445 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 4.0% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,712,800 shares of the company's stock worth $58,492,000 after acquiring an additional 66,058 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 118.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 297,989 shares of the company's stock worth $10,176,000 after acquiring an additional 161,697 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 1.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,138,674 shares of the company's stock worth $141,336,000 after acquiring an additional 76,475 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.98% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity at Essential Properties Realty Trust

In related news, Director Stephen D. Sautel sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.99, for a total transaction of $959,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 218,785 shares in the company, valued at $6,998,932.15. The trade was a 12.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.81% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of EPRT traded up $0.56 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $32.29. The company had a trading volume of 1,493,883 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,220,900. The firm has a market cap of $6.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.36. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.72 and a 52-week high of $34.88. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $31.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.39. The company has a quick ratio of 5.36, a current ratio of 5.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.14. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a return on equity of 6.12% and a net margin of 45.15%. On average, research analysts predict that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Essential Properties Realty Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Essential Properties Realty Trust's payout ratio is currently 103.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EPRT has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. B. Riley downgraded shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the company from $29.50 to $33.50 in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Essential Properties Realty Trust presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $34.48.

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.