Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $20.86.

IRT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised Independence Realty Trust from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $19.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays lowered their price target on Independence Realty Trust from $23.00 to $21.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IRT. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Independence Realty Trust by 236.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,027,943 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $82,573,000 after purchasing an additional 2,829,247 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 24.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,360,979 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $232,900,000 after buying an additional 2,225,371 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Independence Realty Trust by 419.2% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,433,058 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $29,378,000 after acquiring an additional 1,157,052 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Independence Realty Trust by 38.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,495,118 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $51,150,000 after acquiring an additional 686,630 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Easterly Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Independence Realty Trust in the third quarter valued at approximately $11,132,000. 88.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Independence Realty Trust Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of IRT opened at $19.09 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $20.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.01. Independence Realty Trust has a twelve month low of $14.07 and a twelve month high of $22.26. The company has a market cap of $4.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.21.

Independence Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%.

About Independence Realty Trust

Independence Realty Trust, Inc (NYSE: IRT) is a real estate investment trust that owns and operates multifamily communities, across non-gateway U.S. markets including Atlanta, GA, Dallas, TX, Denver, CO, Columbus, OH, Indianapolis, IN, Raleigh-Durham, NC, Oklahoma City, OK, Nashville, TN, Houston, TX, and Tampa, FL.