Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) Upgraded at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has $24.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $20.00.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lowered their price target on Independence Realty Trust from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Independence Realty Trust from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $19.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.71.

Independence Realty Trust Price Performance

Independence Realty Trust stock opened at $20.60 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 114.43, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.19. Independence Realty Trust has a one year low of $15.23 and a one year high of $22.26. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $19.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.27.

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.24. Independence Realty Trust had a net margin of 6.15% and a return on equity of 1.11%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Independence Realty Trust will post 1.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Independence Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Independence Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 355.56%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 66.0% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust during the third quarter worth approximately $41,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 627.5% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,328 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 2,008 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 67.1% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,491 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 33.9% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,735 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 692 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.25% of the company’s stock.

Independence Realty Trust Company Profile

Independence Realty Trust, Inc (NYSE: IRT) is a real estate investment trust that owns and operates multifamily communities, across non-gateway U.S. markets including Atlanta, GA, Dallas, TX, Denver, CO, Columbus, OH, Indianapolis, IN, Raleigh-Durham, NC, Oklahoma City, OK, Nashville, TN, Houston, TX, and Tampa, FL.