JPMorgan Chase & Co. Buys 686,630 Shares of Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) by 38.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,495,118 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 686,630 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 1.11% of Independence Realty Trust worth $51,150,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Independence Realty Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Independence Realty Trust during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Independence Realty Trust during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new stake in Independence Realty Trust during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Independence Realty Trust by 295.9% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,043 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,527 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on IRT shares. 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 report on Monday, September 9th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $23.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Independence Realty Trust from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $19.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Independence Realty Trust from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.14.

Independence Realty Trust Stock Performance

Shares of IRT stock opened at $19.92 on Friday. Independence Realty Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $14.07 and a fifty-two week high of $22.26. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $20.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.95. The company has a market cap of $4.48 billion, a PE ratio of 76.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.21.

Independence Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Independence Realty Trust’s payout ratio is currently 246.15%.

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.