Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) Shares Acquired by Lightrock Netherlands B.V.

Lightrock Netherlands B.V. raised its position in shares of Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT - Free Report) by 32.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 190,034 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 46,385 shares during the quarter. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. owned about 0.08% of Independence Realty Trust worth $4,041,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of IRT. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 627.5% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,328 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 2,008 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 67.1% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,491 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. lifted its position in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 119.8% during the fourth quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 3,978 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 2,168 shares during the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust during the fourth quarter valued at about $83,000. Finally, Wealthquest Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust during the first quarter valued at about $85,000. 88.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IRT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Independence Realty Trust from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Independence Realty Trust from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $24.00 in a report on Monday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a report on Monday, April 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Compass Point restated a "neutral" rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.70.

Independence Realty Trust Price Performance

NYSE:IRT traded up $0.15 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $17.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,479,884 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,025,099. Independence Realty Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.10 and a fifty-two week high of $22.26. The firm's 50 day moving average is $18.48 and its 200-day moving average is $19.40. The firm has a market cap of $4.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 127.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.93.

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 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $160.91 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $164.08 million. Independence Realty Trust had a return on equity of 0.85% and a net margin of 4.70%. Independence Realty Trust's quarterly revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.27 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Independence Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.19 EPS for the current year.

Independence Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This is a boost from Independence Realty Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 27th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.82%. Independence Realty Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 485.71%.

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.