Scotiabank Issues Positive Forecast for Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) Stock Price

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) had its price objective upped by equities researchers at Scotiabank from $32.00 to $33.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “sector perform” rating on the stock. Scotiabank’s price target suggests a potential upside of 3.50% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on EPRT. Capital One Financial initiated coverage on Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. B. Riley downgraded Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $29.50 to $33.50 in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays dropped their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.98.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Price Performance

Essential Properties Realty Trust stock traded down $0.28 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $31.89. 204,744 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,613,904. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $31.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.97. The company has a market cap of $6.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 5.36, a quick ratio of 5.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Essential Properties Realty Trust has a twelve month low of $26.07 and a twelve month high of $34.88.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.01). Essential Properties Realty Trust had a return on equity of 6.12% and a net margin of 45.15%. The firm had revenue of $129.35 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $124.88 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s quarterly revenue was up 24.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Essential Properties Realty Trust will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essential Properties Realty Trust

In related news, Director Stephen D. Sautel sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were 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. This represents a 12.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essential Properties Realty Trust

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EPRT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,966,449 shares of the company’s stock valued at $912,825,000 after buying an additional 870,486 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 33.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,651,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,506,000 after acquiring an additional 1,178,284 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,422,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $138,342,000 after buying an additional 284,036 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,035,196 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,069,000 after purchasing an additional 86,244 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 5.0% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,017,486 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,491,000 after purchasing an additional 144,531 shares during the period. 96.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.