Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) Shares Purchased by Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) by 56.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 27,279 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 9,880 shares during the period. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust were worth $853,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EPRT. Creative Planning increased its stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 13,450 shares of the company’s stock valued at $459,000 after buying an additional 558 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 6,512.6% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 14,151 shares of the company’s stock worth $483,000 after purchasing an additional 13,937 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 30,152 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,022,000 after purchasing an additional 3,309 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 374,217 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,780,000 after purchasing an additional 25,289 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 74,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,528,000 after purchasing an additional 10,242 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.98% of the company’s stock.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Performance

EPRT stock opened at $32.16 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 5.36 and a current ratio of 5.36. The stock has a market cap of $6.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.36. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.37. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.53 and a 52 week high of $34.88.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.45 EPS 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. This is a boost from Essential Properties Realty Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Essential Properties Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 103.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on EPRT. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, B. Riley downgraded shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $29.50 to $33.50 in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.48.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Essential Properties Realty Trust news, Director Stephen D. Sautel sold 12,500 shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.54, for a total value of $406,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 178,785 shares in the company, valued at $5,817,663.90. The trade was a 6.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.