Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $14.71 and last traded at $14.73, with a volume of 37134 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $15.00.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on IRT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Independence Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $18.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered Independence Realty Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, February 22nd. BMO Capital Markets raised Independence Realty Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Independence Realty Trust from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.61.

Independence Realty Trust Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $3.49 billion, a PE ratio of 61.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $16.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.63.

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting 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 business had revenue of $167.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.26 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Independence Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Independence Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 27th will be issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 27th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. Independence Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 283.33%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Independence Realty Trust

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of IRT. Long Pond Capital LP grew its holdings in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 564.5% in the 2nd quarter. Long Pond Capital LP now owns 5,500,502 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $97,304,000 after acquiring an additional 4,672,690 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP raised its holdings in Independence Realty Trust by 16,719.4% during the fourth quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 4,299,707 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $75,159,000 after purchasing an additional 4,274,143 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Independence Realty Trust by 209.5% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,649,829 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $98,759,000 after purchasing an additional 3,824,512 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Independence Realty Trust by 1,435.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,827,503 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $62,733,000 after purchasing an additional 3,578,221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Independence Realty Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $52,122,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.25% of the company’s stock.

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.