Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) Shares Purchased by Bank of Montreal Can

Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) by 10.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,439 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,604 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Independence Realty Trust were worth $763,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. SMART Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Independence Realty Trust in the third quarter worth $873,000. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 182.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 400,376 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,208,000 after buying an additional 258,549 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 256,234 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,981,000 after buying an additional 28,059 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 38.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,495,118 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $51,150,000 after buying an additional 686,630 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised 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 period. 88.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on IRT shares. Barclays lifted their target price on Independence Realty Trust from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group began coverage on Independence Realty Trust in a research report on Monday, April 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Independence Realty Trust in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Independence Realty Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $20.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.33.

Independence Realty Trust Stock Performance

Shares of IRT opened at $19.09 on Friday. Independence Realty Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $15.27 and a one year high of $22.26. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $20.31 and its 200-day moving average is $20.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 106.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.98.

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.24. Independence Realty Trust had a net margin of 6.15% and a return on equity of 1.11%. Analysts forecast that Independence Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Independence Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Independence Realty Trust’s payout ratio 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.