Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $19.6429.

IRT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Independence Realty Trust from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Barclays upgraded Independence Realty Trust from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Independence Realty Trust from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Independence Realty Trust from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Independence Realty Trust to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Independence Realty Trust

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its holdings in Independence Realty Trust by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 38,532 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $674,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Independence Realty Trust by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 4,921 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 676 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 39,365 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $688,000 after buying an additional 712 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 70.3% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,810 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 747 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 1.1% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 70,678 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,250,000 after buying an additional 789 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.25% of the company’s stock.

Independence Realty Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:IRT opened at $16.63 on Tuesday. Independence Realty Trust has a one year low of $14.60 and a one year high of $18.18. The company has a market cap of $3.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.14 and a beta of 0.95. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.34.

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.23. Independence Realty Trust had a net margin of 7.27% and a return on equity of 1.35%. The company had revenue of $165.32 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $166.35 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.27 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Independence Realty Trust will post 1.14 EPS for the current year.

Independence Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 26th were given a $0.18 dividend. This is an increase from Independence Realty Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 26th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. Independence Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 360.00%.

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.