Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 11,150,000 shares, an increase of 26.4% from the May 31st total of 8,820,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,500,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.5 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Independence Realty Trust

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Independence Realty Trust by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 582,192 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,191,000 after purchasing an additional 14,316 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in Independence Realty Trust by 35.5% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 32,011 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $450,000 after purchasing an additional 8,393 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association lifted its holdings in Independence Realty Trust by 54.8% in the 3rd quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 17,127 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 6,066 shares in the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Independence Realty Trust by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 31,415 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $441,000 after purchasing an additional 774 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its holdings in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 322,803 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,542,000 after acquiring an additional 24,287 shares in the last quarter. 88.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, JMP Securities increased their price target on shares of Independence Realty Trust from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Independence Realty Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.00.

Independence Realty Trust Trading Up 2.4 %

Independence Realty Trust stock traded up $0.44 on Friday, hitting $18.74. 5,349,113 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,402,902. The firm has a market cap of $4.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -624.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.12. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.96. Independence Realty Trust has a 1 year low of $11.61 and a 1 year high of $18.82.

Independence Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. Independence Realty Trust’s payout ratio is presently -2,132.62%.

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.