Analysts Set Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) Price Target at $20.06

Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $19.9375.

A number of research analysts recently commented on IRT shares. Zacks Research raised shares of Independence Realty Trust from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Independence Realty Trust from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Independence Realty Trust from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Independence Realty Trust from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Independence Realty Trust from a “hold (c)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th.

Institutional Trading of Independence Realty Trust

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IRT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,235,002 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $580,948,000 after buying an additional 250,549 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,074,813 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $230,705,000 after buying an additional 76,635 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 0.3% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 9,139,506 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $161,678,000 after buying an additional 30,701 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,445,967 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $112,690,000 after buying an additional 148,449 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 209.5% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,649,829 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $98,759,000 after buying an additional 3,824,512 shares during the last quarter. 88.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Independence Realty Trust Stock Performance

Shares of IRT opened at $16.71 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $15.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.44. Independence Realty Trust has a 52 week low of $14.60 and a 52 week high of $19.14. The company has a market capitalization of $3.94 billion, a PE ratio of 83.53, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.98.

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.03 by $0.23. Independence Realty Trust had a net margin of 7.27% and a return on equity of 1.35%. The firm had revenue of $165.32 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $166.35 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.27 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Independence Realty Trust has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.120-1.160 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Independence Realty Trust will post 1.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Independence Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 26th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. This is a boost from Independence Realty Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 26th. Independence Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 340.00%.

Independence Realty Trust Company Profile

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.