Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Invests $1.79 Million in Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 89,876 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,793,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in IRT. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Independence Realty Trust by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,398,947 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $265,835,000 after acquiring an additional 2,037,968 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position 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 valued at $121,811,000 after acquiring an additional 278,959 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 valued at $120,108,000 after acquiring an additional 50,788 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Independence Realty Trust by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,380,250 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $86,904,000 after acquiring an additional 352,307 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position 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 valued at $70,662,000 after acquiring an additional 60,919 shares during the period. 88.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Independence Realty Trust news, CEO Scott Schaeffer sold 10,000 shares of Independence Realty Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.21, for a total transaction of $212,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 873,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,524,071.65. The trade was a 1.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Independence Realty Trust Trading Up 5.5 %

Shares of NYSE:IRT opened at $18.80 on Thursday. Independence Realty Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $15.27 and a 1 year high of $22.26. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.23. The firm has a market cap of $4.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 104.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.98.

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Independence Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.19 EPS for the current year.

Independence Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Independence Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 355.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IRT has been the subject of several analyst reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Independence Realty Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Barclays decreased their target price on Independence Realty Trust from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Independence Realty Trust in a report on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Independence Realty Trust in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $24.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.22.

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.