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

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:EPRT) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, December 9th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.295 per share on Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Essential Properties Realty Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29.

Essential Properties Realty Trust has increased its dividend payment by an average of 6.4% annually over the last three years. Essential Properties Realty Trust has a dividend payout ratio of 91.3% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings fall. Analysts expect Essential Properties Realty Trust to earn $1.82 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.16 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 63.7%.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EPRT traded up $0.53 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $33.00. The company had a trading volume of 1,620,856 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,318,397. The company has a current ratio of 5.59, a quick ratio of 5.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.01. Essential Properties Realty Trust has a 1 year low of $23.58 and a 1 year high of $34.88. The stock has a market cap of $5.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.38.

Essential Properties Realty Trust (NYSE:EPRT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.16). Essential Properties Realty Trust had a return on equity of 6.20% and a net margin of 46.00%. The business had revenue of $117.13 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.73 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Essential Properties Realty Trust will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Essential Properties Realty Trust from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.77.

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.