Arizona State Retirement System Cuts Position in Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT)

Arizona State Retirement System lowered its position in shares of Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 62,816 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,131 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Independence Realty Trust were worth $961,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 98.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,329,328 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $643,267,000 after buying an additional 12,099,993 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 121.7% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,302,671 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $326,733,000 after acquiring an additional 6,753,959 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 835.4% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,124,268 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $86,396,000 after acquiring an additional 4,576,456 shares during the period. Macquarie Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in Independence Realty Trust by 151.8% in the second quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 5,042,952 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $104,585,000 after purchasing an additional 3,040,046 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Independence Realty Trust in the fourth quarter worth about $38,207,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on IRT shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Independence Realty Trust from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. TheStreet downgraded Independence Realty Trust from a “c” rating to a “d+” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Barclays lowered their price target on Independence Realty Trust from $22.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Independence Realty Trust in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $18.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JMP Securities increased their price objective on Independence Realty Trust from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Independence Realty Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.00.

Independence Realty Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE IRT opened at $15.68 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a PE ratio of -223.90, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a fifty day moving average of $15.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $14.69. Independence Realty Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $11.61 and a 52-week high of $18.77.

Independence Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.08%. Independence Realty Trust’s payout ratio is presently -914.16%.

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.