Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) Raised to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Saturday.

IRT has been the topic of several other reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Independence Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $18.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Colliers Securities lowered Independence Realty Trust from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. UBS Group upped their price target on Independence Realty Trust from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Independence Realty Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.35.

Independence Realty Trust Price Performance

IRT opened at $16.35 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.89. Independence Realty Trust has a fifty-two week low of $15.06 and a fifty-two week high of $21.86. The company has a market cap of $3.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.00.

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) last announced 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. Independence Realty Trust had a net margin of 8.60% and a return on equity of 1.58%. The firm had revenue of $167.13 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $170.26 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Independence Realty Trust will post 1.19 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Independence Realty Trust

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its stake in Independence Realty Trust by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 525,522 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $9,188,000 after purchasing an additional 12,052 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Independence Realty Trust by 97.9% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,875 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 1,422 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 209.5% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,649,829 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $98,759,000 after buying an additional 3,824,512 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its position in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 102.8% during the fourth quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 25,828 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $451,000 after acquiring an additional 13,092 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 202.3% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 108,564 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,898,000 after acquiring an additional 72,656 shares in the last quarter. 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.