Raymond James Financial Inc. Acquires Shares of 610,092 Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 610,092 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $12,105,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Atria Investments Inc grew its stake in Independence Realty Trust by 28.0% during the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 33,731 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $691,000 after acquiring an additional 7,378 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 94,845 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,945,000 after purchasing an additional 13,856 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 3.4% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 745,930 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $15,291,000 after purchasing an additional 24,639 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust in the third quarter worth about $189,000. Finally, Pathstone Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 140.5% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 101,272 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,076,000 after purchasing an additional 59,157 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on IRT shares. 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. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Independence Realty Trust from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a research report on Wednesday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.00.

Independence Realty Trust Stock Performance

NYSE IRT opened at $20.94 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $4.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 116.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.18. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $20.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.28. Independence Realty Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $15.23 and a fifty-two week high of $22.26.

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Independence Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.19 EPS for the current year.

Independence Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

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 given a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Independence Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.