Nomura Holdings Inc. Makes New Investment in Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT)

Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 54,454 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $1,080,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in Independence Realty Trust by 66.0% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in Independence Realty Trust by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 122,544 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,304,000 after purchasing an additional 597 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in Independence Realty Trust by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 133,831 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,654,000 after purchasing an additional 643 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 33.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,735 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 692 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ironsides Asset Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Ironsides Asset Advisors LLC now owns 11,070 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $220,000 after buying an additional 725 shares during the last quarter. 88.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IRT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Independence Realty Trust in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. Compass Point reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a research note on Monday, May 5th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Independence Realty Trust in a research note on Monday, April 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded 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 research note on Monday, March 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $22.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Independence Realty Trust 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 transaction of $212,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 873,365 shares in the company, valued at $18,524,071.65. This represents a 1.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 11,000 shares of company stock worth $232,245 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company's stock.

Independence Realty Trust Price Performance

NYSE:IRT opened at $19.58 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $4.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 108.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.98. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $19.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.11. Independence Realty Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $15.66 and a 1 year high of $22.26.

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

Independence Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. This is an increase from Independence Realty Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Independence Realty Trust's dividend payout ratio is currently 485.71%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.