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

Shares of Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $17.00.

Several analysts have commented on the stock. JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of Independence Realty Trust from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Independence Realty Trust from a “c” rating to a “d+” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Independence Realty Trust from $22.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Independence Realty Trust from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $18.00 target price on the stock.

Institutional Trading of Independence Realty Trust

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in IRT. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 7.3% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,429,594 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $71,449,000 after buying an additional 300,281 shares in the last quarter. Ranger Global Real Estate Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 15.0% in the third quarter. Ranger Global Real Estate Advisors LLC now owns 3,539,156 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $49,796,000 after buying an additional 461,572 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Independence Realty Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $52,048,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,212,828 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $49,158,000 after buying an additional 19,060 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,204,694 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $49,032,000 after buying an additional 159,771 shares in the last quarter. 88.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Independence Realty Trust Price Performance

Independence Realty Trust stock opened at $16.33 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.84. Independence Realty Trust has a fifty-two week low of $11.61 and a fifty-two week high of $18.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -544.15, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.07.

Independence Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th were issued a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.92%. Independence Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -2,132.62%.

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.