Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) Price Target Lowered to $18.00 at Citigroup

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) had its price objective reduced by Citigroup from $19.50 to $18.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised Independence Realty Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $20.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Friday, January 9th. KeyCorp lowered 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. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Independence Realty Trust from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Independence Realty Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Colliers Securities lowered shares of Independence Realty Trust from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Independence Realty Trust has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.05.

Independence Realty Trust Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of IRT opened at $16.54 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.95 billion, a PE ratio of 68.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $16.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.87. Independence Realty Trust has a 52-week low of $15.06 and a 52-week high of $21.86.

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) last issued 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. Independence Realty Trust had a net margin of 8.60% and a return on equity of 1.58%. The company had revenue of $167.13 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.26 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.32 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Independence Realty Trust will post 1.19 EPS for the current year.

Independence Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 31st. Independence Realty Trust’s payout ratio is presently 283.33%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in Independence Realty Trust by 36.5% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 28,952 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $506,000 after acquiring an additional 7,741 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Independence Realty Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $250,000. XTX Topco Ltd lifted its position in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 110,632 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,934,000 after purchasing an additional 7,500 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 416.0% in the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 375,331 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,561,000 after purchasing an additional 302,591 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtus Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust in the fourth quarter worth approximately $165,000. Hedge funds and other 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.