Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) Cut to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Sunday morning.

IRT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Independence Realty Trust from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a research note on Monday, December 29th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Independence Realty Trust from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Independence Realty Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Independence Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $18.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Independence Realty Trust currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.35.

Independence Realty Trust Price Performance

Shares of IRT stock opened at $16.73 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.97 billion, a PE ratio of 69.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $16.94 and a 200-day moving average of $16.85. Independence Realty Trust has a one year low of $15.06 and a one year high of $21.86.

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting 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 firm had revenue of $167.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $170.26 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research 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 was paid on Friday, January 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. Independence Realty Trust’s payout ratio is 283.33%.

Institutional Trading of Independence Realty Trust

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its position in Independence Realty Trust by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 38,532 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $674,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares during the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,357 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $203,000 after purchasing an additional 658 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 4,921 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 676 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 39,365 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $688,000 after buying an additional 712 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank grew its stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 46.4% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 2,289 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 725 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.