Citigroup Inc. Acquires 155,179 Shares of Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT)

Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) by 81.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 346,197 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 155,179 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned approximately 0.15% of Independence Realty Trust worth $7,097,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Independence Realty Trust by 236.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,027,943 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $82,573,000 after acquiring an additional 2,829,247 shares in the last quarter. B&I Capital AG bought a new stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $10,900,000. Easterly Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $11,132,000. Makena Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Independence Realty Trust in the second quarter valued at $10,039,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in Independence Realty Trust by 241.3% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 735,304 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $13,780,000 after buying an additional 519,841 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.25% of the company’s stock.

Independence Realty Trust Price Performance

IRT opened at $21.84 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.35. Independence Realty Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $13.44 and a 1 year high of $22.26. The company has a market capitalization of $4.92 billion, a PE ratio of 19.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.17.

Independence Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Independence Realty Trust from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. BTIG Research raised their price objective on Independence Realty Trust from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. JMP Securities lifted their target price on Independence Realty Trust from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Independence Realty Trust from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Independence Realty Trust from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $19.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.43.

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.