Wellington Management Group LLP Decreases Stock Position in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)

Wellington Management Group LLP trimmed its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) by 13.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,462,184 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,260,814 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust were worth $264,697,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of EPRT. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 1.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,033,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $345,535,000 after buying an additional 96,615 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,468,922 shares of the company’s stock valued at $152,642,000 after acquiring an additional 118,927 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 1.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,138,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,336,000 after acquiring an additional 76,475 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,948,952 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,246,000 after acquiring an additional 469,610 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,872,955 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,866,000 after purchasing an additional 43,179 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Essential Properties Realty Trust

In other Essential Properties Realty Trust news, Director Stephen D. Sautel sold 30,000 shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.99, for a total value of $959,700.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 218,785 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,998,932.15. The trade was a 12.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.81% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Performance

EPRT opened at $32.45 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 5.36 and a quick ratio of 5.36. The firm has a market cap of $6.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.46, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.36. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.72 and a 1-year high of $34.88.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.14. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a net margin of 45.15% and a return on equity of 6.12%. Equities analysts forecast that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.295 per share. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 103.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EPRT has been the topic of several research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 target price on the stock. Capital One Financial assumed coverage on Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. B. Riley cut Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $29.50 to $33.50 in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.91.

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.