Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Hold Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning.

IRT has been the subject of a number of other reports. Zacks Research cut shares of Independence Realty Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Independence Realty Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $20.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a report on Monday, December 29th. Colliers Securities downgraded Independence Realty Trust from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their target price on Independence Realty Trust from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.35.

Independence Realty Trust Stock Up 2.6%

NYSE IRT opened at $16.35 on Friday. Independence Realty Trust has a fifty-two week low of $15.06 and a fifty-two week high of $21.86. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $16.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $16.88. The stock has a market cap of $3.91 billion, a PE ratio of 68.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.00.

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $167.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.26 million. Independence Realty Trust had a net margin of 8.60% and a return on equity of 1.58%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Independence Realty Trust will post 1.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Independence Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 23rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st were issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 31st. Independence Realty Trust’s payout ratio is currently 283.33%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in IRT. Solstein Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in Independence Realty Trust in the third quarter worth $26,000. First Horizon Corp bought a new stake in Independence Realty Trust during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 70.3% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,810 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 747 shares during the period. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 551.2% during the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,869 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,582 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.