Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Holdings in Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT - Free Report) by 3.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 747,252 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 25,124 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.32% of Independence Realty Trust worth $15,864,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew 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 purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in shares of Independence Realty Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $83,000. Wealthquest Corp bought a new position in shares of Independence Realty Trust in the 1st quarter valued at about $85,000. State of Wyoming lifted its holdings in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 49.2% in the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 4,355 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 1,437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Independence Realty Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $111,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.25% of the company's stock.

Independence Realty Trust Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of IRT stock traded up $0.02 on Friday, hitting $17.53. The stock had a trading volume of 3,328,805 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,023,270. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $18.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.31. The company has a market cap of $4.10 billion, a PE ratio of 125.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.93. Independence Realty Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $17.10 and a one year high of $22.26.

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $160.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $164.08 million. Independence Realty Trust had a net margin of 4.70% and a return on equity of 0.85%. The business's revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be 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 dividend yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. Independence Realty Trust's payout ratio is presently 485.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on IRT. 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 report on Friday, May 9th. UBS Group started coverage on Independence Realty Trust in a report on Monday, April 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $24.00 price target on the stock. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a research note on Monday, May 5th. 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 target price on the stock. Finally, Compass Point reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. 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 has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.70.

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.