BNP Paribas Financial Markets Reduces Position in Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets decreased its holdings in Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) by 19.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 44,348 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 10,754 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Independence Realty Trust were worth $880,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of IRT. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Independence Realty Trust by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,398,947 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $265,835,000 after purchasing an additional 2,037,968 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 28.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,551,247 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $70,457,000 after buying an additional 793,403 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust in the fourth quarter worth $12,105,000. Aew Capital Management L P raised its holdings in Independence Realty Trust by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Aew Capital Management L P now owns 2,316,915 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $45,968,000 after acquiring an additional 434,290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Independence Realty Trust by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,380,250 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $86,904,000 after acquiring an additional 352,307 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.25% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Scott Schaeffer sold 10,000 shares of Independence Realty Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.21, for a total transaction of $212,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 873,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,524,071.65. The trade was a 1.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 11,000 shares of company stock valued at $232,245. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have 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 for the company. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Independence Realty Trust from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Compass Point reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Independence Realty Trust in a research report on Monday, April 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $24.00 target price for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.70.

Independence Realty Trust Stock Down 3.7%

IRT opened at $18.52 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $19.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.09. Independence Realty Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $15.66 and a fifty-two week high of $22.26. The firm has a market cap of $4.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 102.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.98.

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $160.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $164.08 million. Independence Realty Trust had a return on equity of 1.11% and a net margin of 6.15%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.27 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Independence Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Independence Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.67%. This is a boost from Independence Realty Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 27th. Independence Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.