Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) Upgraded by Jefferies Financial Group to Buy Rating

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 morning, Marketbeat.com reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has $24.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $20.00.

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

Independence Realty Trust Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:IRT opened at $21.13 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $19.86 and a 200 day moving average of $20.26. The company has a market cap of $4.88 billion, a PE ratio of 117.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.19. Independence Realty Trust has a 12-month low of $15.23 and a 12-month high of $22.26.

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

Independence Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.03%. Independence Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 355.56%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of IRT. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in Independence Realty Trust by 24.5% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 25,318 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $519,000 after acquiring an additional 4,989 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Independence Realty Trust by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 38,839 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $773,000 after buying an additional 4,263 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new position in Independence Realty Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Atria Investments Inc boosted its holdings in Independence Realty Trust by 28.0% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 33,731 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $691,000 after acquiring an additional 7,378 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust during the third quarter worth about $263,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.25% of the company’s stock.

About Independence Realty Trust

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.