Short Interest in Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) Grows By 19.8%

Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 12,092,966 shares, an increase of 19.8% from the February 26th total of 10,095,983 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,487,656 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.9 days. Currently, 5.2% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Independence Realty Trust

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of IRT. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Independence Realty Trust in the third quarter valued at $857,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,106,225 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,521,000 after acquiring an additional 123,274 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 329.6% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 268,335 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,398,000 after acquiring an additional 205,869 shares during the last quarter. Argosy Lionbridge Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Independence Realty Trust in the 3rd quarter worth $12,209,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 92.6% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 360,215 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,372,000 after purchasing an additional 173,165 shares during the period. 88.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Independence Realty Trust Stock Up 0.6%

IRT traded up $0.09 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $14.90. The stock had a trading volume of 3,003,555 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,860,255. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $16.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $16.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.99. Independence Realty Trust has a 1-year low of $14.63 and a 1-year high of $21.56.

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.32. Independence Realty Trust had a return on equity of 1.58% and a net margin of 8.60%.The company had revenue of $167.13 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $170.26 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.32 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Independence Realty Trust will post 1.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Independence Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 17th. Investors of record on Friday, March 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 27th. Independence Realty Trust’s payout ratio is presently 283.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IRT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a research report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Independence Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $18.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Independence Realty Trust from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 4th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Independence Realty Trust from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Independence Realty Trust from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Independence Realty Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.61.

Independence Realty Trust Company Profile

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.