Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) Upgraded by Jefferies Financial Group to Strong-Buy Rating

Posted by Francis Steltz on Jun 27th, 2026

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT – Free Report) to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Zacks Research upgraded Independence Realty Trust from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Independence Realty Trust from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Independence Realty Trust from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Independence Realty Trust from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Independence Realty Trust from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.06.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on IRT

Independence Realty Trust Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of IRT opened at $16.94 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.68, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.96. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $16.35 and a 200 day moving average of $16.41. Independence Realty Trust has a 12 month low of $14.60 and a 12 month high of $18.18.

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.23. Independence Realty Trust had a return on equity of 1.35% and a net margin of 7.27%.The business had revenue of $165.32 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $166.35 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. The business’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. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Independence Realty Trust will post 1.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Independence Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 17th. Investors of record on Friday, June 26th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This is an increase from Independence Realty Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 26th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. Independence Realty Trust’s payout ratio is 340.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Independence Realty Trust

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 purchasing an additional 250,549 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Independence Realty Trust by 0.6% in the 4th 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 period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in Independence Realty Trust by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 9,139,506 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $161,678,000 after buying an additional 30,701 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Independence Realty Trust by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,445,967 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $112,690,000 after buying an additional 148,449 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Independence Realty Trust by 209.5% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,649,829 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $98,759,000 after acquiring an additional 3,824,512 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.25% of the company’s stock.

About Independence Realty Trust

(Get Free Report)

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.