Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) Short Interest Update

Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 22,510,000 shares, a drop of 5.5% from the September 15th total of 23,820,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,920,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 11.7 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Independence Realty Trust

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in IRT. Long Pond Capital LP lifted its holdings in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 204.7% during the first quarter. Long Pond Capital LP now owns 10,414,483 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $167,986,000 after purchasing an additional 6,996,365 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new position in Independence Realty Trust in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $22,464,000. B&I Capital AG purchased a new position in Independence Realty Trust in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $10,900,000. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Independence Realty Trust in the 1st quarter worth approximately $8,867,000. Finally, Makena Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Independence Realty Trust in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $10,039,000. 88.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Independence Realty Trust Stock Performance

Independence Realty Trust stock opened at $19.95 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $18.37. The stock has a market cap of $4.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -665.00, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.17. 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Independence Realty Trust’s payout ratio is -2,133.33%.

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.