Short Interest in Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) Rises By 5.4%

Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 23,730,000 shares, an increase of 5.4% from the September 30th total of 22,510,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,020,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 11.7 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Independence Realty Trust

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC now owns 79,217 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,485,000 after acquiring an additional 571 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its position in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 0.5% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 131,019 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,112,000 after buying an additional 671 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 1.3% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 69,961 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,434,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 2.2% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 55,100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $889,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 2.0% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 63,011 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,181,000 after buying an additional 1,255 shares during the period. 88.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Independence Realty Trust Stock Up 0.2 %

IRT opened at $19.75 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $4.45 billion, a PE ratio of -658.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.17. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.60. Independence Realty Trust has a fifty-two week low of $11.61 and a fifty-two week high of $21.20.

Independence Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Independence Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently -2,133.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IRT has been the topic of several analyst reports. KeyCorp raised their target price on Independence Realty Trust from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. JMP Securities raised their target price on Independence Realty Trust from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. BTIG Research lifted their price target on Independence Realty Trust from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Independence Realty Trust from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.57.

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.