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

Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) was the target 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 currently 3.7 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Independence Realty Trust

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in Independence Realty Trust by 157.5% in the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,553 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 950 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in Independence Realty Trust by 176.2% in the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 1,914 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Independence Realty Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in Independence Realty Trust by 240.9% during the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,776 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,255 shares during the period. Finally, Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Independence Realty Trust in the third quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors own 85.45% of the company’s stock.

Independence Realty Trust Price Performance

NYSE:IRT traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $13.11. 2,078,876 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,961,120. The firm 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. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $13.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.04. Independence Realty Trust has a twelve month low of $11.61 and a twelve month high of $19.68.

Independence Realty Trust Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IRT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JMP Securities decreased their price objective on shares of Independence Realty Trust from $20.00 to $15.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Independence Realty Trust from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Independence Realty Trust in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.89.

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.