Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) Upgraded to Buy at Jefferies Financial Group

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm presently has a $24.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust's stock, up from their previous price objective of $20.00. Jefferies Financial Group's target price indicates a potential upside of 16.76% from the stock's current price.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the company. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Independence Realty Trust from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $19.00 to $21.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Independence Realty Trust from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $21.71.

Independence Realty Trust Stock Performance

IRT traded down $0.03 on Monday, hitting $20.56. 1,694,782 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,010,422. The business's fifty day moving average is $19.90 and its 200 day moving average is $20.27. Independence Realty Trust has a fifty-two week low of $15.23 and a fifty-two week high of $22.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 114.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.19.

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Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT - Get Free Report) last released 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%. Analysts forecast that Independence Realty Trust will post 1.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Hilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Independence Realty Trust during the third quarter worth about $7,573,000. SMART Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Independence Realty Trust during the third quarter valued at $873,000. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 182.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 400,376 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $8,208,000 after purchasing an additional 258,549 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Independence Realty Trust by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 256,234 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,981,000 after buying an additional 28,059 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Independence Realty Trust by 38.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,495,118 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $51,150,000 after purchasing an additional 686,630 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.25% of the company's stock.

About Independence Realty Trust

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.