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

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

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on IRT. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Independence Realty Trust from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. 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 report on Tuesday, January 20th. Colliers Securities cut shares of Independence Realty Trust from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their target price on Independence Realty Trust from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Eight 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.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.35.

Independence Realty Trust Trading Up 2.6%

Shares of IRT opened at $16.35 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.91 billion, a PE ratio of 68.12, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.00. Independence Realty Trust has a 1 year low of $15.06 and a 1 year high of $21.86. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.89.

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.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Long Pond Capital LP boosted its position in 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 valued at $97,304,000 after buying an additional 4,672,690 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,824,512 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $62,733,000 after acquiring an additional 3,578,221 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Independence Realty Trust during the fourth quarter valued at $52,122,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Independence Realty Trust in the second quarter valued at about $30,368,000. Institutional investors own 88.25% of the company’s stock.

Independence Realty Trust Company Profile

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.