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

Shares of Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $22.70.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $24.00 price target for the company. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $25.00 price target on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Independence Realty Trust from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a research note on Monday, April 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Independence Realty Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th.

Insider Transactions at Independence Realty Trust

In other news, CEO Scott Schaeffer sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.21, for a total transaction of $212,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 873,365 shares in the company, valued at $18,524,071.65. This represents a 1.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 11,500 shares of company stock worth $241,445 in the last 90 days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in Independence Realty Trust in the 1st quarter valued at $898,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Independence Realty Trust by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 27,250 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $579,000 after buying an additional 1,556 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in Independence Realty Trust by 387.3% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 818,312 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $17,373,000 after buying an additional 650,375 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in Independence Realty Trust in the 1st quarter valued at $23,829,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Independence Realty Trust by 16.7% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,935,487 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $62,320,000 after buying an additional 420,682 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.25% of the company’s stock.

Independence Realty Trust Price Performance

IRT stock opened at $18.46 on Thursday. Independence Realty Trust has a 12 month low of $16.82 and a 12 month high of $22.26. The firm has a market cap of $4.31 billion, a PE ratio of 102.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.96.

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $160.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $164.08 million. Independence Realty Trust had a net margin of 6.15% and a return on equity of 1.11%. The firm’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.27 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Independence Realty Trust will post 1.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Independence Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This is a positive change from Independence Realty Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 27th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.68%. Independence Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 485.71%.

Independence Realty Trust Company 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.