Citigroup Has Lowered Expectations for Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) Stock Price

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) had its price objective dropped by investment analysts at Citigroup from $19.50 to $18.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Citigroup’s target price suggests a potential upside of 9.03% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on IRT. KeyCorp cut their target price on Independence Realty Trust from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Independence Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $18.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Independence Realty Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Independence Realty Trust from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.05.

Independence Realty Trust Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE IRT traded up $0.10 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $16.51. 811,331 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,788,872. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.87. Independence Realty Trust has a twelve month low of $15.06 and a twelve month high of $21.86. The firm has a market cap of $3.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.91, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.00.

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) last released its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $167.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $170.26 million. Independence Realty Trust had a return on equity of 1.58% and a net margin of 8.60%.Independence Realty Trust’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. Research analysts expect that Independence Realty Trust will post 1.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Independence Realty Trust

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Independence Realty Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $857,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 338,253 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,984,000 after acquiring an additional 15,200 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Independence Realty Trust by 329.6% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 268,335 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,398,000 after acquiring an additional 205,869 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 92.6% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 360,215 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,372,000 after acquiring an additional 173,165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust during the 2nd quarter worth about $581,000. 88.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Independence Realty Trust

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.