Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) Plans $0.16 Quarterly Dividend

Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, March 10th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of 0.16 per share by the real estate investment trust on Monday, April 21st. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th.

Independence Realty Trust has increased its dividend payment by an average of 10.1% per year over the last three years. Independence Realty Trust has a dividend payout ratio of 193.9% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Research 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 Stock Performance

Shares of IRT stock traded down $0.30 on Tuesday, hitting $20.84. 2,362,545 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,010,954. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 115.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.19. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.26. Independence Realty Trust has a one year low of $15.23 and a one year high of $22.26.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on IRT shares. Barclays cut their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised Independence Realty Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $20.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Monday. JMP Securities reiterated 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, BMO Capital Markets upgraded Independence Realty Trust from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $19.00 to $21.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.71.

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.