Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (IRT) To Go Ex-Dividend on March 28th

Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, March 10th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of 0.16 per share by the real estate investment trust on Monday, April 21st. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th.

Independence Realty Trust has raised its dividend payment by an average of 10.1% annually over the last three years. Independence Realty Trust has a dividend payout ratio of 206.5% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Analysts expect Independence Realty Trust to earn $1.27 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.64 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 50.4%.

Independence Realty Trust Price Performance

NYSE IRT opened at $20.99 on Wednesday. Independence Realty Trust has a 12 month low of $15.25 and a 12 month high of $22.26. The company has a market capitalization of $4.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 116.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.19. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $20.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.30.

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.24. Independence Realty Trust had a return on equity of 1.11% and a net margin of 6.15%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Independence Realty Trust will post 1.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on IRT. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Independence Realty Trust in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $24.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Independence Realty Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $20.00 to $24.00 in a report on Monday, March 10th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Independence Realty Trust from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.00.

Independence Realty Trust Company 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.