Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) Reaches New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $22.00 and last traded at $21.99, with a volume of 493 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.75.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on IRT. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Independence Realty Trust from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $19.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Independence Realty Trust from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. JMP Securities lifted their target price on Independence Realty Trust from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Independence Realty Trust from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their target price on Independence Realty Trust from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.43.

Independence Realty Trust Stock Up 0.6 %

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $20.24 and a 200-day moving average of $19.19. The stock has a market cap of $4.93 billion, a PE ratio of 19.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.17.

Independence Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Independence Realty Trust

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Independence Realty Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $267,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Independence Realty Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Independence Realty Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $246,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Independence Realty Trust by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,857,943 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $120,108,000 after purchasing an additional 50,788 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 21.5% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 42,364 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $868,000 after acquiring an additional 7,492 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.