Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) Lowered to Sell Rating by Wall Street Zen

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report issued on Sunday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on IRT. UBS Group upped their target price 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. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Independence Realty Trust from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Colliers Securities downgraded shares of Independence Realty Trust from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Independence Realty Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Independence Realty Trust currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.35.

Independence Realty Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:IRT opened at $16.54 on Friday. Independence Realty Trust has a 1 year low of $15.06 and a 1 year high of $21.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.92 billion, a PE ratio of 68.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $16.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $16.87.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Independence Realty Trust

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Independence Realty Trust during the 1st quarter worth $209,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased 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 purchasing an additional 420,682 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 253,906 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,492,000 after purchasing an additional 4,280 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its position in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 126.9% in the 2nd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 59,800 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,058,000 after purchasing an additional 33,440 shares during the period. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its stake in Independence Realty Trust by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 307,346 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,437,000 after buying an additional 9,339 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.