AlphaQuest LLC Purchases 32,497 Shares of Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT)

AlphaQuest LLC boosted its stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) by 353.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 41,704 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,497 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Independence Realty Trust were worth $827,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Independence Realty Trust by 24.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,360,979 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $232,900,000 after acquiring an additional 2,225,371 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 278,959 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Independence Realty Trust by 0.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,857,943 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $120,108,000 after acquiring an additional 50,788 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Independence Realty Trust by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,561,615 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $70,662,000 after acquiring an additional 60,919 shares during the last quarter. 88.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on IRT shares. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price objective 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 upped their target price for the company from $19.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Barclays cut their target price 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Independence Realty Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $20.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Independence Realty Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.71.

Independence Realty Trust Stock Performance

IRT opened at $21.13 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 117.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.19. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $19.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.26. Independence Realty Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $15.23 and a one year high of $22.26.

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, analysts predict that Independence Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Independence Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. Independence Realty Trust’s payout ratio is currently 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.