Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.30 (NYSE:EPRT)

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, March 11th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of 0.295 per share on Friday, April 11th. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st.

Essential Properties Realty Trust has raised its dividend payment by an average of 5.1% per year over the last three years. Essential Properties Realty Trust has a payout ratio of 88.1% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings decline. Analysts expect Essential Properties Realty Trust to earn $1.98 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.18 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 59.6%.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Down 1.4 %

NYSE EPRT traded down $0.45 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $31.12. The stock had a trading volume of 3,144,485 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,252,674. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $31.67 and a 200 day moving average price 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. Essential Properties Realty Trust has a 1 year low of $24.72 and a 1 year high of $34.88. The stock has a market cap of $5.84 billion, a PE ratio of 27.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.36.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.14. Essential Properties Realty Trust had a return on equity of 6.12% and a net margin of 45.15%. On average, research analysts expect that Essential Properties Realty Trust will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EPRT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Essential Properties Realty Trust from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, 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 objective on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.48.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Stephen D. Sautel sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.81% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.