Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) Hits New 12-Month Low – What’s Next?

Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $14.60 and last traded at $14.8020, with a volume of 41139 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $14.87.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on IRT shares. UBS Group lifted their price target 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. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Independence Realty Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, February 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a research note on Friday, March 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Independence Realty Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Independence Realty Trust from $21.00 to $18.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Independence Realty Trust has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.61.

Independence Realty Trust Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $3.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.54.

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.32. The company had revenue of $167.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $170.26 million. Independence Realty Trust had a return on equity of 1.58% and a net margin of 8.60%.Independence Realty Trust’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Independence Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Independence Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 27th will be issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 27th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. Independence Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 283.33%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Solstein Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Independence Realty Trust during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in Independence Realty Trust during the third quarter worth about $26,000. First Horizon Corp acquired a new stake in Independence Realty Trust during the third quarter worth about $27,000. SHP Wealth Management bought a new position in Independence Realty Trust during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Independence Realty Trust by 70.3% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,810 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 747 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.25% of the company’s stock.

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.