Insider Selling: Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) CEO Sells 10,000 Shares of Stock

Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) CEO Scott Schaeffer sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 873,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,524,071.65. This represents a 1.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Independence Realty Trust Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of IRT stock opened at $21.42 on Thursday. Independence Realty Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.25 and a 12 month high of $22.26. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.33. The firm has a market cap of $4.95 billion, a PE ratio of 119.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.98.

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, equities analysts predict that Independence Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Independence Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. Independence Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 355.56%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Independence Realty Trust

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SMART Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Independence Realty Trust in the third quarter valued at $873,000. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Independence Realty Trust by 182.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 400,376 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,208,000 after acquiring an additional 258,549 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 256,234 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,981,000 after acquiring an additional 28,059 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 38.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,495,118 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $51,150,000 after purchasing an additional 686,630 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,561,615 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $70,662,000 after purchasing an additional 60,919 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.