Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) Price Target to $19.00

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) had its price target reduced by Wells Fargo & Company from $20.00 to $19.00 in a research note published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Independence Realty Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered 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. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Independence Realty Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $20.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Friday, January 9th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on Independence Realty Trust from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a report on Friday, January 9th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.95.

Independence Realty Trust Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of IRT opened at $16.51 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.79, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.99. The business’s 50 day moving average is $16.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.82. Independence Realty Trust has a 52-week low of $15.06 and a 52-week high of $21.67.

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32. The business had revenue of $167.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $170.26 million. Independence Realty Trust had a net margin of 8.60% and a return on equity of 1.58%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Independence Realty Trust will post 1.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Independence Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 31st. Independence Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 283.33%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Independence Realty Trust

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of IRT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Independence Realty Trust by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,235,002 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $580,948,000 after acquiring an additional 250,549 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Independence Realty Trust by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,074,813 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $230,705,000 after acquiring an additional 76,635 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in Independence Realty Trust by 0.3% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 9,139,506 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $161,678,000 after acquiring an additional 30,701 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Independence Realty Trust by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,445,967 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $112,690,000 after acquiring an additional 148,449 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its holdings 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 valued at $98,759,000 after purchasing an additional 3,824,512 shares during 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.