JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Stock Position in Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,506,902 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 11,784 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Independence Realty Trust were worth $49,737,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 24.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,360,979 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $232,900,000 after purchasing an additional 2,225,371 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Independence Realty Trust during the 4th quarter worth approximately $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 buying an additional 434,290 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Independence Realty Trust during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,636,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Independence Realty Trust by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 6,139,652 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $121,811,000 after buying an additional 278,959 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Independence Realty Trust from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Independence Realty Trust in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $24.00 target price for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Independence Realty Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $20.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Independence Realty Trust has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Scott Schaeffer sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $18,524,071.65. This represents a 1.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Independence Realty Trust Trading Down 7.5 %

Shares of NYSE:IRT opened at $19.00 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.39 billion, a PE ratio of 105.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.32. Independence Realty Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $15.27 and a 12-month high of $22.26.

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

Independence Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Independence Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.