Wall Street Zen Upgrades Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) to Hold

Key Points

• Independence Realty Trust was upgraded from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating by research analysts at Wall Street Zen, indicating a shift in investor sentiment.
• UBS Group reduced their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $21.00, while Compass Point raised its target from $22.00 to $24.00, reflecting varied analyst opinions.
• Institutional investors own 88.25% of Independence Realty Trust's stock, with significant recent increases in positions by several hedge funds.

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price target on Independence Realty Trust from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Independence Realty Trust from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Compass Point upgraded Independence Realty Trust from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $22.00 to $24.00 in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a report on Monday, May 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.56.

Independence Realty Trust Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE IRT traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $17.36. The stock had a trading volume of 412,009 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,185,412. The firm has a market cap of $4.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 144.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.94. The business's fifty day moving average price is $17.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.01. Independence Realty Trust has a 52-week low of $16.59 and a 52-week high of $22.26.

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28. The firm had revenue of $161.89 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $164.78 million. Independence Realty Trust had a return on equity of 0.78% and a net margin of 4.31%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.28 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Independence Realty Trust will post 1.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Independence Realty Trust

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in IRT. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 44.2% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 4,876,816 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $103,535,000 after purchasing an additional 1,495,132 shares during the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY lifted its holdings in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 592.0% during the 4th quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 1,711,746 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $33,961,000 after purchasing an additional 1,464,400 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust during the 1st quarter valued at $29,149,000. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 120.0% during the 1st quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 2,233,851 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $47,425,000 after purchasing an additional 1,218,559 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust during the 1st quarter valued at $23,829,000. Hedge funds and other 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.