Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) Short Interest Down 20.3% in February

Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 17,310,000 shares, a drop of 20.3% from the February 13th total of 21,710,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,830,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 9.5 days. Approximately 7.5% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Independence Realty Trust

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Independence Realty Trust by 66.0% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 521 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new position in Independence Realty Trust in the third quarter valued at $41,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Independence Realty Trust by 627.5% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,328 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 2,008 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in Independence Realty Trust by 67.1% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,491 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Independence Realty Trust by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,735 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 692 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.25% of the company’s stock.

Independence Realty Trust Trading Up 0.6 %

Independence Realty Trust stock traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $20.94. The company had a trading volume of 2,726,308 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,017,139. The company has a market cap of $4.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 116.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.28. Independence Realty Trust has a fifty-two week low of $15.23 and a fifty-two week high of $22.26.

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.24. Independence Realty Trust had a net margin of 6.15% and a return on equity of 1.11%. Research analysts forecast that Independence Realty Trust will post 1.19 EPS for the current year.

Independence Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.06%. Independence Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 355.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Independence Realty Trust in a research note on Wednesday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Independence Realty Trust from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Independence Realty Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.00.

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.