Metis Global Partners LLC Increases Stock Position in Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT)

Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) by 11.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 25,769 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 2,631 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Independence Realty Trust were worth $511,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Independence Realty Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at $41,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 692 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 437.8% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,001 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 2,443 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Independence Realty Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at $64,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IRT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Independence Realty Trust from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Independence Realty Trust from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $19.00 to $21.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.33.

Independence Realty Trust Price Performance

Shares of IRT stock opened at $21.48 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 119.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.18. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $19.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.23. Independence Realty Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.23 and a 12 month high of $22.26.

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.24. Independence Realty Trust had a net margin of 6.15% and a return on equity of 1.11%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Independence Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.19 EPS for the current year.

Independence Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.98%. Independence Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 355.56%.

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.