Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) Shares Sold by Grove Bank & Trust

Grove Bank & Trust reduced its position in shares of Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT - Free Report) by 26.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 283,843 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 101,057 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust owned 0.12% of Independence Realty Trust worth $6,026,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of IRT. Wellington Management Group LLP increased 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 worth $265,835,000 after purchasing an additional 2,037,968 shares during the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY boosted its stake in Independence Realty Trust by 592.0% during the fourth quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 1,711,746 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $33,961,000 after buying an additional 1,464,400 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in Independence Realty Trust by 72.5% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,381,684 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $67,093,000 after buying an additional 1,421,377 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Independence Realty Trust by 2,601.9% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 837,787 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $16,622,000 after buying an additional 806,780 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Independence Realty Trust by 28.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,551,247 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $70,457,000 after buying an additional 793,403 shares during the period. 88.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IRT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Compass Point reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a research note on Monday, April 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $24.00 target price for the company. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $24.00 target price for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Independence Realty Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $22.70.

Independence Realty Trust Stock Performance

NYSE IRT opened at $17.99 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.73. Independence Realty Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $17.10 and a one year high of $22.26. The firm has a market cap of $4.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 99.97, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.96.

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

Independence Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 18th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. This is a positive change from Independence Realty Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Independence Realty Trust's dividend payout ratio is 485.71%.

Insider Activity at Independence Realty Trust

In related news, CEO Scott Schaeffer sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.21, for a total value of $212,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 873,365 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,524,071.65. This represents a 1.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 11,500 shares of company stock valued at $241,445 over the last quarter. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

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