Jefferies Financial Group Upgrades Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) to “Buy”

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) was upgraded by investment analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Monday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm presently has a $24.00 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their previous target price of $20.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target suggests a potential upside of 14.33% from the stock’s current price.

IRT has been the topic of several other research reports. 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 report on Wednesday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets raised Independence Realty Trust from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $19.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.71.

Independence Realty Trust Stock Performance

Shares of IRT opened at $20.99 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 116.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.19. Independence Realty Trust has a 52 week low of $15.23 and a 52 week high of $22.26. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $19.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.25.

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Independence Realty Trust will post 1.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Independence Realty Trust

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in Independence Realty Trust by 24.5% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 25,318 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $519,000 after buying an additional 4,989 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $773,000 after purchasing an additional 4,263 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. purchased a new stake in Independence Realty Trust during the 3rd quarter worth about $41,000. Atria Investments Inc grew its holdings in Independence Realty Trust by 28.0% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 33,731 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $691,000 after buying an additional 7,378 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust during the third quarter valued at about $263,000. 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.