Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (IRT) To Go Ex-Dividend on March 27th

Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, March 9th. Investors of record on Friday, March 27th will be given a dividend of 0.17 per share by the real estate investment trust on Friday, April 17th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 27th.

Independence Realty Trust has raised its dividend by an average of 0.0%annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 3 consecutive years. Independence Realty Trust has a payout ratio of 234.5% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. 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 $0.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 53.5%.

Independence Realty Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:IRT opened at $15.10 on Wednesday. Independence Realty Trust has a one year low of $14.90 and a one year high of $21.56. The company has a market cap of $3.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.91, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.65.

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32. Independence Realty Trust had a net margin of 8.60% and a return on equity of 1.58%. The firm had revenue of $167.13 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $170.26 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Independence Realty Trust will post 1.19 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IRT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a report on Monday, December 29th. Colliers Securities lowered Independence Realty Trust from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Wall Street Zen cut Independence Realty Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, February 22nd. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Independence Realty Trust from $21.00 to $18.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Independence Realty Trust from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Independence Realty Trust currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.61.

Independence Realty Trust Company 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.