Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) Shares Sold by Verition Fund Management LLC

Verition Fund Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT - Free Report) by 53.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 150,500 shares of the company's stock after selling 176,216 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC owned about 0.09% of Essential Properties Realty Trust worth $5,140,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of EPRT. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 372,040 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 244.3% in the 2nd 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 period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 26.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 244,424 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,347,000 after purchasing an additional 51,196 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 33.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,503,405 shares of the company's stock worth $85,491,000 after buying an additional 621,445 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 9.6% in the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 193,228 shares of the company's stock valued at $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.

Insider Activity at Essential Properties Realty Trust

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Raymond James increased their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Mizuho increased 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, November 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essential Properties Realty Trust presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $33.44.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EPRT traded down $0.35 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $33.04. 847,139 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,322,663. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $23.58 and a 52-week high of $34.88. 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 company has a market cap of $5.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.74, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.38. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $33.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.77.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.73 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. The company's revenue was up 27.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. Essential Properties Realty Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.87%.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Company 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.