Essential Properties Realty Trust (EPRT) Declares $0.28 Dividend

Essential Properties Realty Trust said on March 9, 2023 that its board of directors declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share ($1.10 annualized). Previously, the company paid $0.28 per share.

Shares must be purchased before the ex-div date of March 30, 2023 to qualify for the dividend. Shareholders of record as of March 31, 2023 will receive the payment on April 14, 2023.

At the current share price of $25.22 / share, the stock's dividend yield is 4.36%. Looking back five years and taking a sample every week, the average dividend yield has been 4.73%, the lowest has been 3.10%, and the highest has been 8.70%. The standard deviation of yields is 1.18 (n=222).

The current dividend yield is 0.31 standard deviations below the historical average.

Additionally, the company's dividend payout ratio is 1.18. The payout ratio tells us how much of a company's income is paid out in dividends. A payout ratio of one (1.0) means 100% of the company's income is paid in a dividend. A payout ratio greater than one means the company is dipping into savings in order to maintain its dividend - not a healthy situation. Companies with few growth prospects are expected to pay out most of their income in dividends, which typically means a payout ratio between 0.5 and 1.0. Companies with good growth prospects are expected to retain some earnings in order to invest in those growth prospects, which translates to a payout ratio of zero to 0.5.

The company's 3-Year dividend growth rate is 0.20%, demonstrating that it has increased its dividend over time.

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Analyst Price Forecast Suggests 10.58% Upside

As of March 9, 2023, the average one-year price target for Essential Properties Realty Trust is $27.89. The forecasts range from a low of $24.24 to a high of $37.80. The average price target represents an increase of 10.58% from its latest reported closing price of $25.22.

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The projected annual revenue for Essential Properties Realty Trust is $335MM, an increase of 17.57%. The projected annual non-GAAP EPS is $0.95.

What is the Fund Sentiment?

There are 609 funds or institutions reporting positions in Essential Properties Realty Trust. This is unchanged over the last quarter. Average portfolio weight of all funds dedicated to EPRT is 0.28%, an increase of 14.32%. Total shares owned by institutions increased in the last three months by 4.12% to 166,528K shares. The put/call ratio of EPRT is 1.84, indicating a bearish outlook.

What are Large Shareholders Doing?

IJR - iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF holds 10,550K shares representing 7.31% ownership of the company. In it's prior filing, the firm reported owning 10,337K shares, representing an increase of 2.02%. The firm increased its portfolio allocation in EPRT by 12.03% over the last quarter.

Wellington Management Group Llp holds 8,992K shares representing 6.23% ownership of the company. In it's prior filing, the firm reported owning 11,457K shares, representing a decrease of 27.41%. The firm decreased its portfolio allocation in EPRT by 10.84% over the last quarter.

VGSIX - Vanguard Real Estate Index Fund Investor Shares holds 5,944K shares representing 4.12% ownership of the company. In it's prior filing, the firm reported owning 5,761K shares, representing an increase of 3.08%. The firm increased its portfolio allocation in EPRT by 10.86% over the last quarter.

Invesco holds 4,393K shares representing 3.04% ownership of the company. In it's prior filing, the firm reported owning 4,593K shares, representing a decrease of 4.55%. The firm decreased its portfolio allocation in EPRT by 99.99% over the last quarter.

VTSMX - Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Investor Shares holds 4,374K shares representing 3.03% ownership of the company. In it's prior filing, the firm reported owning 4,212K shares, representing an increase of 3.72%. The firm increased its portfolio allocation in EPRT by 15.74% over the last quarter.

Essential Properties Realty Trust Background Information
(This description is provided by the company.)

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. is an internally managed REIT that acquires, owns and manages primarily single- tenant properties that are net leased on a long-term basis to companies operating service-oriented or experience-based businesses. As of December 31, 2020, the Company's portfolio consisted of 1,181 freestanding net lease properties with a weighted average lease term of 14.5 years and a weighted average rent coverage ratio of 2.9x. As of the same date, the Company's portfolio was 99.7% leased to 238 tenants operating 336 different concepts in 17 industries across 43 states.

This story originally appeared on Fintel.