Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. Has $9.24 Million Stake in Independence Realty Trust, Inc. $IRT

Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) by 6.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 563,995 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 35,981 shares during the period. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. owned about 0.24% of Independence Realty Trust worth $9,244,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Solstein Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. First Horizon Corp acquired a new position in Independence Realty Trust in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Huntington National Bank raised its position in Independence Realty Trust by 46.4% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 2,289 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 725 shares in the last quarter. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. bought a new position in Independence Realty Trust during the second quarter worth about $54,000. Finally, Caldwell Trust Co bought a new position in Independence Realty Trust during the second quarter worth about $61,000. Institutional investors own 88.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on Independence Realty Trust from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Barclays cut their target price on Independence Realty Trust from $21.00 to $18.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Independence Realty Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.61.

Independence Realty Trust Price Performance

IRT stock opened at $15.81 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $16.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.77. Independence Realty Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $15.06 and a fifty-two week high of $21.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.99.

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32. Independence Realty Trust had a return on equity of 1.58% and a net margin of 8.60%.The company had revenue of $167.13 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.26 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.32 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 27th will be given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 27th. Independence Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 283.33%.

Independence Realty Trust Profile

Independence Realty Trust is a self-administered equity real estate investment trust that acquires, redevelops and manages multi-family communities. The company focuses on workforce housing, targeting Class A and B garden-style apartments in suburban and urban infill locations. Its core activities include sourcing value-add acquisitions, overseeing property renovations and delivering in-house property management services to optimize rental income and occupancy levels.

Headquartered in Wayne, Pennsylvania, Independence Realty Trust maintains a geographically diverse portfolio across several high-growth U.S.