Phocas Financial Corp. Reduces Position in Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT)

Phocas Financial Corp. decreased its position in Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 376,654 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 3,222 shares during the period. Phocas Financial Corp. owned 0.16% of Independence Realty Trust worth $7,473,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in IRT. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its position 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 during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its position 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 during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,735 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 692 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ironsides Asset Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Ironsides Asset Advisors LLC now owns 11,070 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $220,000 after acquiring an additional 725 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.25% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Scott Schaeffer sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.21, for a total value of $212,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 873,365 shares in the company, valued at $18,524,071.65. This trade represents a 1.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 11,000 shares of company stock worth $232,245 in the last ninety days. 0.58% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Independence Realty Trust Price Performance

Shares of Independence Realty Trust stock opened at $18.00 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 99.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.98. Independence Realty Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $15.66 and a 1 year high of $22.26. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.05.

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.27 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 analyst estimates 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 was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Independence Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. This is a positive change from Independence Realty Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.78%. Independence Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 485.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on IRT. 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Independence Realty Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $20.00 to $24.00 in a report on Monday, March 10th. Barclays increased their target price 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. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a research report on Monday, April 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Independence Realty Trust has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.70.

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.