Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Independence Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:IRT) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 11,150,000 shares, an increase of 26.4% from the May 31st total of 8,820,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,500,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.5 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, JMP Securities boosted their target price on Independence Realty Trust from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.00.

Institutional Trading of Independence Realty Trust

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of IRT. Peregrine Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Independence Realty Trust in the 4th quarter worth about $7,728,000. Aurora Investment Managers LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 62.8% during the fourth quarter. Aurora Investment Managers LLC. now owns 33,382 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $511,000 after acquiring an additional 12,876 shares during the last quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 725,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $11,092,000 after acquiring an additional 135,000 shares during the last quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Independence Realty Trust by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 2,960,798 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $45,300,000 after acquiring an additional 479,379 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Independence Realty Trust during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $994,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.25% of the company’s stock.

Independence Realty Trust Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of IRT traded up $0.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $18.74. The company had a trading volume of 5,349,113 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,402,902. Independence Realty Trust has a 52-week low of $11.61 and a 52-week high of $18.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -624.46, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $17.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.96.

Independence Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. Independence Realty Trust’s payout ratio is -2,132.62%.

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.