Wellington Management Group LLP Acquires 2,037,968 Shares of Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT)

Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) by 17.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,398,947 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 2,037,968 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned about 5.80% of Independence Realty Trust worth $265,835,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SMART Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Independence Realty Trust in the third quarter worth $873,000. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Independence Realty Trust by 182.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 400,376 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,208,000 after buying an additional 258,549 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Independence Realty Trust by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 256,234 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,981,000 after buying an additional 28,059 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Independence Realty Trust by 38.0% in 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 buying an additional 686,630 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Independence Realty Trust by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,561,615 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $70,662,000 after purchasing an additional 60,919 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on IRT. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Independence Realty Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $20.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Independence Realty Trust from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.00.

Independence Realty Trust Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of IRT opened at $21.38 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 118.80, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.19. Independence Realty Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.25 and a 12 month high of $22.26. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $20.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.33.

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.24. Independence Realty Trust had a return on equity of 1.11% and a net margin of 6.15%. Equities research analysts forecast that Independence Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.19 EPS for the current year.

Independence Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.99%. Independence Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 355.56%.

Independence Realty Trust Profile

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.