Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) Short Interest Up 9.4% in November

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 20,060,000 shares, an increase of 9.4% from the October 31st total of 18,330,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,220,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 16.4 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Peter M. Mavoides sold 27,817 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owns 446,076 shares in the company, valued at $14,421,637.08. This represents a 5.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Essential Properties Realty Trust

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Asset Dedication LLC bought a new stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust during the second quarter worth $27,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 95.2% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 818 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 611.3% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 1,027 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 122.9% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,244 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 686 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 116.4% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,945 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 1,046 shares during the last quarter. 96.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Performance

Shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust stock traded down $0.69 on Monday, reaching $33.41. The stock had a trading volume of 1,308,483 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,324,713. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 5.59 and a current ratio of 5.59. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $33.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.73. The stock has a market cap of $5.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.37. Essential Properties Realty Trust has a fifty-two week low of $23.58 and a fifty-two week high of $34.88.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $117.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.73 million. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a net margin of 46.00% and a return on equity of 6.20%. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Essential Properties Realty Trust will post 1.68 EPS for the current 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. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s payout ratio is 100.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on EPRT shares. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. UBS Group boosted their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.44.

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.