Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC cut its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) by 52.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,845 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,534 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust were worth $575,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,377,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $676,561,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060,079 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 29.2% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,646,742 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,631,000 after acquiring an additional 372,040 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 101.5% in the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 89,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,390,000 after acquiring an additional 45,151 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted 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 worth $11,958,000 after acquiring an additional 303,057 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 31.4% during the 1st quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 157,731 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,205,000 after purchasing an additional 37,729 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EPRT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $32.00 to $36.25 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Wedbush assumed coverage on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a report on Monday, August 19th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $34.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on shares of 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.37.

Insider Transactions at Essential Properties Realty Trust

In other news, CEO Peter M. Mavoides sold 27,817 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.33, for a total value of $899,323.61. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 446,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,421,637.08. The trade was a 5.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Performance

Shares of EPRT stock opened at $32.86 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.57, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $33.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.23. The company has a current ratio of 5.59, a quick ratio of 5.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $23.01 and a 12 month high of $34.51.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.16). Essential Properties Realty Trust had a return on equity of 6.20% and a net margin of 46.00%. The business had revenue of $117.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.73 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 27.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.53%. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s payout ratio is currently 100.87%.

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.