Van ECK Associates Corp Raises Position in Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT)

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) by 10.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 42,806 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 3,967 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Independence Realty Trust were worth $849,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 0.5% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 99,984 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,050,000 after buying an additional 526 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 133,831 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,654,000 after buying an additional 643 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,735 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 692 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 4,295 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 732 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 0.3% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 281,800 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,777,000 after buying an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IRT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised Independence Realty Trust from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $19.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Independence Realty Trust from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.33.

Independence Realty Trust Trading Down 1.5 %

NYSE IRT opened at $20.44 on Friday. Independence Realty Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $14.35 and a 1-year high of $22.26. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $19.70 and a 200-day moving average of $20.13. The firm has a market cap of $4.72 billion, a PE ratio of 113.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.21.

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) last released its earnings results 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 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Independence Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.13%. Independence Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 355.56%.

Independence Realty Trust Company 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.