This Stock Turned $1,000 Into $3,196 Since Its 2018 IPO. Is It Too Late to Buy Now?

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. EPRT is a real estate investment trust that acquires, owns and manages single-tenant properties net leased on a long-term basis to middle-market companies operating service-oriented or experience-based businesses.

It is set to report its Q3 2024 earnings on October 23. Wall Street analysts expect the company to post an EPS of $0.44, up from $0.42 in the year-ago period. According to data from Benzinga Pro, quarterly revenue is expected to be $112.89 million, up from $91.66 million in the year-ago period.

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If You Bought Essential Properties Stock 6 Years Ago

The company's stock traded at around $14 per share at its IPO six years ago. If you had invested $1,000, you could have bought approximately 71 shares of Essential Properties stock. Currently, shares are trading at $34.15, meaning your investment's value could have soared to $2,439 due to stock price appreciation. But wait—the company also paid dividends during these years. 

Essential Properties’ dividend yield is currently 3.40%. Over the last six years, it paid around $10.60 in dividends per share, meaning you could have made $757 from dividends alone. 

Summing up $2,439 and $757, we end up with the final value of your investment, which is $3,196. This is how much you could have made if you had invested $1,000 in Essential Properties stock six years ago. This represents a total return of 219.6%. In comparison, the S&P 500's total return for the same period is 124.73%.

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What Could The Next 6 Years Bring? 

Essential Properties has a consensus rating of Buy and a price target of $30.41 based on the ratings of 20 analysts. The price target implies a nearly 11% potential downside from the current stock price.

Check out this article by Benzinga for 10 analyst projections for Essential Properties stock.

On July 24, the company reported its Q2 2024 earnings, posting an AFFO of $0.43, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47. Revenues of $109.268 million came in above the consensus of $106.411 million, as reported by Benzinga.

Commenting on the second-quarter 2024 results, the company’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Pete Mavoides, said, "Our company continued to execute at a high level in the second quarter, raising and deploying capital accretively into attractive investments against the backdrop of a growing opportunity set. With our debt and equity capital needs met for the year, we focus on responsibly deploying our dry powder to drive earnings growth into 2025.”

Given the expected downside potential, growth-focused investors may not find Essential Properties stock attractive. Conversely, the stock could be a good option for income-focused investors, who can benefit from the company's solid dividend yield of 3.40%.

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