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

Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $20.6111.

Several brokerages have recently commented on IRT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Independence Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $18.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Independence Realty Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, February 22nd. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Independence Realty Trust from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Independence Realty Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $20.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Friday, January 9th.

Independence Realty Trust Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of IRT opened at $14.90 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.51 billion, a PE ratio of 62.09, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.99. Independence Realty Trust has a 1 year low of $14.63 and a 1 year high of $21.56. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.55.

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.32. Independence Realty Trust had a return on equity of 1.58% and a net margin of 8.60%.The business had revenue of $167.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.26 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.32 EPS. Independence Realty Trust’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Independence Realty Trust will post 1.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Independence Realty Trust Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Independence Realty Trust

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. NewEdge Advisors LLC bought a new position in Independence Realty Trust in the 1st quarter valued at $209,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 16.7% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,935,487 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $62,320,000 after acquiring an additional 420,682 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 197.9% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 31,872 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $564,000 after acquiring an additional 21,174 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 1.6% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 272,052 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,813,000 after acquiring an additional 4,392 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 14.6% during the second quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 24,600 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $435,000 after acquiring an additional 3,134 shares during the period. 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.