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

Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, March 11th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid 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 dividend 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% annually 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. 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 Down 1.4 %

Independence Realty Trust stock traded down $0.30 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $20.84. 2,130,001 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,010,028. Independence Realty Trust has a 1-year low of $15.23 and a 1-year high of $22.26. The firm has a market cap of $4.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 115.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.19. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.26.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Independence Realty Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $24.00 in a report on Monday. Barclays cut their price target on shares of 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. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Independence Realty Trust from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $19.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Independence Realty Trust has an average 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.