Federated Hermes Inc. Grows Stake in Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT)

Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT - Free Report) by 48.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 131,001 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 42,975 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. owned 0.06% of Independence Realty Trust worth $2,781,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in IRT. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Independence Realty Trust in the 4th quarter worth about $1,781,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Independence Realty Trust by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 747,252 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $15,864,000 after purchasing an additional 25,124 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Independence Realty Trust by 889.9% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 410,801 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $8,721,000 after purchasing an additional 369,303 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Independence Realty Trust by 1,991.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 36,749 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $7,800,000 after purchasing an additional 34,992 shares during the period. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in Independence Realty Trust by 111.7% in the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 6,862 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $146,000 after purchasing an additional 3,620 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.25% of the company's stock.

Independence Realty Trust Stock Down 0.3%

IRT stock traded down $0.05 during trading on Friday, hitting $17.36. 974,257 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,180,230. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 144.71, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.05. Independence Realty Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.59 and a 1 year high of $22.26.

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.28. Independence Realty Trust had a net margin of 4.31% and a return on equity of 0.78%. The company had revenue of $161.89 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $164.78 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.28 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Independence Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Independence Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th were issued a $0.17 dividend. This is an increase from Independence Realty Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 27th. Independence Realty Trust's dividend payout ratio is presently 566.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Independence Realty Trust from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Independence Realty Trust from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Compass Point raised shares of Independence Realty Trust from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $22.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Independence Realty Trust currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $22.60.

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.