D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Has $2.96 Million Position in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) by 943.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 94,506 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 85,449 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust were worth $2,956,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EPRT. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Essential Properties Realty Trust in the fourth quarter worth approximately $83,341,000. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 237.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,100,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,703,000 after purchasing an additional 1,478,451 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 33.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,651,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,506,000 after purchasing an additional 1,178,284 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Essential Properties Realty Trust during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,085,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Essential Properties Realty Trust during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $21,438,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EPRT has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $40.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. B. Riley downgraded Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $29.50 to $33.50 in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Capital One Financial assumed coverage on Essential Properties Realty Trust in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Stephen D. Sautel sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.99, for a total value of $959,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 218,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,998,932.15. This trade 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 through this hyperlink. 0.77% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust stock opened at $32.44 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.95. The company has a market cap of $6.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.46, a PEG 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $26.07 and a 1 year high of $34.88.

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

Essential Properties Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.295 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.64%. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 102.61%.

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.