Bamco Inc. NY Buys 1,464,400 Shares of Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT)

Bamco Inc. NY lifted its stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT - Free Report) by 592.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,711,746 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 1,464,400 shares during the quarter. Bamco Inc. NY owned about 0.76% of Independence Realty Trust worth $33,961,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Independence Realty Trust by 182.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 400,376 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $8,208,000 after purchasing an additional 258,549 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 256,234 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,981,000 after purchasing an additional 28,059 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 38.0% in 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 period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Independence Realty Trust by 1.7% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 60,919 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Independence Realty Trust during the 4th quarter worth approximately $222,000. Institutional investors own 88.25% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Scott Schaeffer sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.21, for a total transaction of $212,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 873,365 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,524,071.65. This represents a 1.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,000 shares of company stock worth $232,245. Insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Independence Realty Trust Stock Performance

Shares of Independence Realty Trust stock traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $19.12. 1,420,933 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,097,261. Independence Realty Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.66 and a 12 month high of $22.26. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.13. The company has a market capitalization of $4.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 106.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.98.

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $160.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $164.08 million. Independence Realty Trust had a return on equity of 1.11% and a net margin of 6.15%. The business's revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.27 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Independence Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.19 EPS for the current year.

Independence Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 28th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. Independence Realty Trust's payout ratio is currently 457.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on IRT shares. UBS Group began coverage on Independence Realty Trust in a research note on Monday, April 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Independence Realty Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $20.00 to $24.00 in a report on Monday, March 10th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a report on Monday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Independence Realty Trust from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $22.78.

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.