Short Interest in Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) Increases By 6.0%

Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,100,000 shares, an increase of 6.0% from the October 15th total of 6,700,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,920,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.7 days.

Independence Realty Trust Stock Performance

NYSE:IRT opened at $13.11 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.85 and a beta of 1.06. Independence Realty Trust has a one year low of $11.61 and a one year high of $19.68. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.04.

Independence Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 20th. Investors of record on Friday, September 29th were paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 28th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.88%. Independence Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 246.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Independence Realty Trust from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 1st. JMP Securities lowered their target price on Independence Realty Trust from $20.00 to $15.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Independence Realty Trust in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “sell” rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Independence Realty Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.89.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Independence Realty Trust

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in Independence Realty Trust by 9.8% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 34,920,804 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $636,257,000 after purchasing an additional 3,102,418 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Independence Realty Trust by 98.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,329,328 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $643,267,000 after purchasing an additional 12,099,993 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Independence Realty Trust by 2.8% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,744,998 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $222,218,000 after purchasing an additional 376,694 shares in the last quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. grew its stake in Independence Realty Trust by 11.4% in the first quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 9,772,936 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $156,661,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Independence Realty Trust by 1.4% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,494,895 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $198,165,000 after purchasing an additional 101,479 shares in the last quarter. 85.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Independence Realty Trust Company Profile

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.