Versant Capital Management Inc Acquires 1,380 Shares of EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR)

Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR) by 1,682.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,462 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,380 shares during the quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in EPR Properties were worth $61,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in EPR Properties by 290.3% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,691,029 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $81,930,000 after buying an additional 1,257,791 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in EPR Properties during the fourth quarter worth $42,761,000. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in EPR Properties during the first quarter worth $7,429,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in EPR Properties by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,366,416 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $482,504,000 after buying an additional 109,144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in EPR Properties by 75.0% during the fourth quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 175,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,479,000 after buying an additional 75,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on EPR. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of EPR Properties from $42.50 to $47.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of EPR Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America downgraded shares of EPR Properties from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $40.00 in a report on Monday, May 20th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of EPR Properties from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $48.00 to $50.00 in a report on Monday. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of EPR Properties in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.50.

EPR Properties Price Performance

EPR traded up $0.95 on Tuesday, hitting $44.47. 486,898 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 630,953. EPR Properties has a 12 month low of $39.65 and a 12 month high of $49.10. The business has a 50-day moving average of $42.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 11.12 and a quick ratio of 8.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.91 and a beta of 1.73.

EPR Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $3.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.69%. EPR Properties’s dividend payout ratio is 168.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Gwendolyn Mary Johnson sold 592 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.82, for a total value of $25,941.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 5,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $253,279.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

EPR Properties Profile

EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR) is the leading diversified experiential net lease real estate investment trust (REIT), specializing in select enduring experiential properties in the real estate industry. We focus on real estate venues that create value by facilitating out of home leisure and recreation experiences where consumers choose to spend their discretionary time and money.