EPRT vs NNN: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?

Same yardstick, side by side (as of August 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. EPRT and NNN share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined EPRT and NNN exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: EPRT), headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey, is an internally managed real estate investment trust that acquires, owns, and manages primarily single-tenant properties net leased on a long-term basis. Its niche is sale-leaseback financing for middle-market companies: EPRT buys the real estate a private operator uses (a chain of car washes, quick-service restaurants, or medical clinics, for example) and leases it back under a long triple-net lease, where the tenant pays taxes, insurance, and maintenance. As of March 31, 2026, the portfolio held 2,417 freestanding properties totaling roughly 27.3 million square feet, was 99.7% leased across 662 different tenant concepts in 48 states, and carried a weighted average lease term of about 14.6 years with a weighted average rent coverage ratio near 3.5x. Roughly 92% of cash annualized base rent comes from service-oriented and experience-based tenants that management views as relatively insulated from e-commerce.

Full EPRT guide

NNN REIT, Inc. is a Maryland corporation formed in 1984 and headquartered in Orlando, Florida, and it operates as a fully integrated real estate investment trust focused on freestanding, single-tenant retail property leased under long-term net leases. Known as National Retail Properties before its 2023 renaming, the company owned 3,774 properties covering roughly 40.4 million square feet as of June 30, 2026, with occupancy at 99.1% and a weighted average remaining lease term of 10.1 years. Tenants sign leases where they cover taxes, insurance and maintenance, which keeps NNN's own capital expenditure minimal and makes rent close to a pass-through. Annualized base rent reached $959.1 million at the end of the second quarter, up 7.3% year over year. Exposure skews toward service and experience retail rather than goods that ship in a box: automotive service was 18.6% of annualized base rent at the end of 2025, convenience stores 16.3%, restaurants of both kinds 14.3%, entertainment 7.2% and dealerships 6.6%. Its five largest tenants, 7-Eleven, Mister Car Wash, Dave & Buster's, Camping World and Kent Distributors, together account for 17.8% of rent, and no single tenant reached 10% of rental income.

Full NNN guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• EPRT drivers: Sale-leaseback niche with middle-market operators; Above-peer AFFO-per-share and dividend growth.
• NNN drivers: A 37-year dividend increase streak with room underneath it; Acquisition spread wider than the cost of the money funding it.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: Interest-rate sensitivity is the primary structural risk: as a yield-oriented REIT, EPRT's share price moves inversely with Treasury yields, and higher rates raise its borrowing costs and can narrow the spread between acquisition cap rates and its cost of capital. For NNN, interest rates sit at the center of the risk list, because a higher risk-free yield both compresses what income investors will pay for NNN's dividend and raises the borrowing cost that determines whether new acquisitions are accretive at all.

Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick EPRT if you believe its drivers more; NNN if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the EPRT and NNN guides.

EPRT. REITs are most meaningfully valued on AFFO rather than GAAP earnings, because heavy depreciation makes net income a poor proxy for cash generation. At a mid-2026 share price near $31 and the roughly $2.03 midpoint of 2026 AFFO guidance, EPRT trades at about 15x forward AFFO, a level that reflects its faster-than-peer growth but is below where the stock traded in lower-rate periods. The forward dividend of about $1.28 implies a yield near 4.1%, with a payout ratio comfortably covered by AFFO. Investors weighing the valuation typically compare EPRT's growth premium against the extra tenant-credit and capital-markets risk that comes with financing smaller, private operators.

NNN. Net-lease REITs are valued on funds from operations rather than earnings, because heavy real estate depreciation makes GAAP net income understate cash generation; NNN reported trailing twelve-month diluted EPS near $2.03, which puts the trailing P/E around 23x while the price to AFFO multiple sits near 13x, and the second figure is the one the sector trades on. Second quarter 2026 results, reported August 5, showed revenue of $244.3 million (up 7.7% year over year), Core FFO of $0.89 per share (up 6.0%) and AFFO of $0.90 per share (up 5.9%), with management raising both AFFO guidance and its acquisition volume target. Compared with larger peer Realty Income, NNN trades at a similar AFFO multiple on a smaller, U.S.-only, service-retail-weighted portfolio, so the valuation debate usually comes down to whether a more concentrated tenant roster deserves the same multiple as a globally diversified one.

Headline figures (approximate, July 2026): EPRT shows revenue (ttm) ~$600 million, revenue (q1 2026, most recent quarter) ~$158.8 million (+23% YoY), affo per share (q1 2026) ~$0.50 (+11% YoY), 2026 affo per share guidance ~$2.00 to $2.05; NNN shows revenue (ttm through june 30, 2026) ~$953 million, market capitalization ~$8.9 billion (~192 million shares near ~$46), affo per share (2026 guidance, raised august 2026) ~$3.55 to $3.59, price to affo (2026 guidance midpoint) ~13x.

EPRT and NNN are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined EPRT and NNN exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.