Easterly Investment Partners LLC Acquires 70,867 Shares of Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT)

Easterly Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) by 13.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 613,867 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 70,867 shares during the period. Easterly Investment Partners LLC owned 0.27% of Independence Realty Trust worth $12,179,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of IRT. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Independence Realty Trust during the third quarter worth about $189,000. Pathstone Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 140.5% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 101,272 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,076,000 after purchasing an additional 59,157 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank bought a new stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at $460,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust during the third quarter worth $1,594,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Independence Realty Trust by 4.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,500,696 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $71,764,000 after buying an additional 137,464 shares during the last quarter. 88.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Independence Realty Trust Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of IRT stock opened at $20.95 on Thursday. Independence Realty Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.25 and a 12 month high of $22.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.84 billion, a PE ratio of 116.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.19. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.31.

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

Independence Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. Independence Realty Trust’s payout ratio is 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.