Essential Properties Realty Trust

EPRT

Market cap $6.77B

My biggest investing regret was chasing yield. High yields often signal hidden problems. Yield, growth, and safety matter more together.

Essential Properties has raised its payout each year since it began paying a dividend after its initial public offering in 2018. EPRT looks well-positioned to continue putting up exceptional AFFO per share growth in the net lease REIT space. As of Q1 2026, the REIT possessed considerable liquidity and a very low pro forma net debt-to-annualized adjusted EBITDAre ratio.

Iron Mountain, Tanger, Four Corners, Essential Properties, and Chatham Lodging delivered outsized REIT returns by exploiting price-value gaps during market panics. My disciplined value investing approach focuses on durable business models, strong balance sheets, and buying below intrinsic value, not market timing or headline chasing. IRM and SKT now trade at premium valuations, while EPRT and FCPT remain attractively priced with solid growth and conservative payout ratios; CLDT reached fair value and was exited.

PRINCETON, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: EPRT; “Essential Properties” or the “Company”) announced today that the Company will release its operating results for the quarter ended June 30, 2026 after the market close on Wednesday, July 22, 2026. The Company will host its quarterly earnings conference call and audio webcast on Thursday, July 23, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time. A webcast of the conference call will be available on the Investor Relations sec.

Equity Lifestyle, Rexford Industrial, Essential Properties, VICI Properties, and American Tower are my top wide-moat REIT picks for 2H 2026. Each REIT offers irreplaceable assets, strong competitive advantages, fortress balance sheets, and attractive margins of safety at current valuations. REXR and AMT trade at deep discounts to historical multiples, with REXR offering a 20% 2026 return target and AMT forecasted for 20%+ annualized returns.

Essential Property Realty Trust remains a hold as current valuation offers insufficient margin of safety despite recent credit rating upgrades. EPRT's business model targets higher cap rates from non-investment grade, middle-market tenants, trading off higher risk for AFFO growth outperformance. Valuation using NAVPS and WACC methodology shows EPRT is 6.22% overvalued relative to its current share price, indicating efficient market pricing.

In this article series, I summarize dividend announcements of the past week. Six stocks in my database announced dividend increases, including one stock I own, and one declared a special dividend. W. R. Berkley stands out with an 11.1% dividend increase, a 50¢ special dividend, and the highest quality score this week. Medtronic offers the most value, trading 9% below fair value, but its dividend growth is modest at 1.4%.

PRINCETON, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: EPRT; the “Company”) announced today that its operating partnership, Essential Properties, L.P. (the “Operating Partnership”), has priced a public offering of $400 million aggregate principal amount of 5.375% Senior Notes due 2036 (the “Notes”). The Notes were priced at 98.119% of the principal amount and will mature on July 15, 2036. The offering is expected to settle on June 15, 2026, subject to the satisfaction.

PRINCETON, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: EPRT; the “Company”) announced today that its Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.32 per share of common stock for the second quarter of 2026. The second quarter 2026 dividend represents an annualized dividend of $1.28 per share of common stock, an increase of $0.04 per share compared to the previous annualized dividend. The dividend is payable on July 14, 2026, to stockholders of record as.

I focus on HALO investing: Heavy Assets, Low Obsolescence - owning irreplaceable physical assets with durable moats against technological disruption. Top recommendations include American Tower, Brookfield Infrastructure, Prologis, Rexford Industrial, Lineage, Americold, VICI Properties, and Lamar Advertising. AMT, COLD, and VICI currently offer attractive entry points based on discounted multiples, robust dividend yields, and resilient, monopoly-like asset bases.