Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) Short Interest Up 16.0% in September

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 19,920,000 shares, an increase of 16.0% from the September 15th total of 17,170,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,330,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 15.0 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EPRT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on 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. UBS Group upped their price target on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Raymond James raised their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research note on Friday, June 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $33.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $37.00 price target (up from $34.00) on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.06.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Price Performance

NYSE:EPRT traded up $0.61 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $34.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 945,886 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,360,479. The company has a market capitalization of $5.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 4.90, a quick ratio of 4.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Essential Properties Realty Trust has a fifty-two week low of $20.49 and a fifty-two week high of $34.51. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $32.21 and a 200-day moving average of $29.13.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $109.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $102.99 million. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a return on equity of 6.28% and a net margin of 48.12%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 26.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.41 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Essential Properties Realty Trust will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s payout ratio is 94.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essential Properties Realty Trust

In other news, CEO Peter M. Mavoides sold 27,817 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $14,421,637.08. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Essential Properties Realty Trust

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Planning grew its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 13,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $459,000 after acquiring an additional 558 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 63.1% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,173 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 1,228 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 1,669.8% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 603,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,610,000 after purchasing an additional 569,400 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in the second quarter valued at approximately $622,000. Finally, Truist Financial Corp raised its position in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 78,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,179,000 after purchasing an additional 4,515 shares during the last quarter. 96.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.