Phocas Financial Corp. Sells 324,280 Shares of Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT)

Phocas Financial Corp. cut its position in Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) by 85.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 55,596 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 324,280 shares during the quarter. Phocas Financial Corp.’s holdings in Independence Realty Trust were worth $1,103,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hilton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at $7,573,000. SMART Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Independence Realty Trust in the third quarter valued at about $873,000. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $8,208,000 after acquiring an additional 258,549 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 12.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 256,234 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,981,000 after purchasing an additional 28,059 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $51,150,000 after purchasing an additional 686,630 shares in the last quarter. 88.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Independence Realty Trust Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of IRT stock opened at $20.92 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $19.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.16. Independence Realty Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $14.35 and a 1 year high of $22.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 116.22, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.21.

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Independence Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Independence Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. Independence Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 355.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on IRT. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Independence Realty Trust from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $19.00 to $21.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Independence Realty Trust currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.33.

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.