Ameriflex Group Inc. Takes Position in Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT)

Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 5,769 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $111,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in IRT. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 627.5% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,328 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 2,008 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 67.1% during the 4th 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. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 33.9% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,735 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 692 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Independence Realty Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $70,000. Institutional investors own 88.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on IRT. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Compass Point reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a research note on Monday, April 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised 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 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Independence Realty Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.70.

Independence Realty Trust Price Performance

NYSE IRT opened at $18.00 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 99.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.98. Independence Realty Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $15.66 and a 52-week high of $22.26.

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $160.91 million during 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%. Independence Realty Trust’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.27 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Independence Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.19 EPS for the current year.

Independence Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.78%. This is a positive change from Independence Realty Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. Independence Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 485.71%.

Insider Transactions at Independence Realty Trust

In related news, CEO Scott Schaeffer sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.21, for a total transaction of $212,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 873,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,524,071.65. This trade represents a 1.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold 11,000 shares of company stock valued at $232,245 over the last three months. 0.58% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.