Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Raises Position in Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT - Free Report) by 109.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 159,019 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 82,997 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky owned 0.07% of Independence Realty Trust worth $3,375,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 22,292 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $442,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. raised its stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 2.1% during the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 32,632 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $693,000 after purchasing an additional 678 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Independence Realty Trust by 0.3% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 252,949 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $5,370,000 after purchasing an additional 731 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Independence Realty Trust by 2.2% in the first quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 46,763 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $993,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Finally, Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV grew its position in Independence Realty Trust by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 32,149 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $642,000 after buying an additional 1,160 shares in the last quarter. 88.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IRT has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Independence Realty Trust from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays raised their target price on 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. Compass Point reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and issued a $25.00 price target on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $22.40.

Independence Realty Trust Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of Independence Realty Trust stock opened at $17.55 on Wednesday. Independence Realty Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.05 and a 12-month high of $22.26. The company has a market cap of $4.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 125.32, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.93. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $18.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.21.

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 return on equity of 0.85% and a net margin of 4.70%. The company had revenue of $160.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $164.08 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.27 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. 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 was paid on Friday, July 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th were paid a $0.17 dividend. This is a positive change from Independence Realty Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 27th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.88%. Independence Realty Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 485.71%.

About Independence Realty Trust

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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