Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Purchases Shares of 2,034,345 Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,034,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,473,000. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. owned 1.16% of Essential Properties Realty Trust at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 118.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 297,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,176,000 after acquiring an additional 161,697 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its holdings in Essential Properties Realty Trust by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 250,885 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,568,000 after purchasing an additional 2,034 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 235,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,039,000 after purchasing an additional 6,057 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 23,597 shares of the company’s stock valued at $806,000 after purchasing an additional 2,119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased 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 period. 96.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on EPRT shares. Mizuho raised 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 report on Thursday, November 14th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Raymond James upped their price target on 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. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $32.00 to $36.25 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Essential Properties Realty Trust presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.44.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Performance

Shares of EPRT stock opened at $32.67 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 5.59 and a current ratio of 5.59. Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $23.58 and a one year high of $34.88. The company’s 50-day moving average is $33.09 and its 200 day moving average is $30.93.

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

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.