Independence Realty Trust (IRT) Competitors

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) and AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, risk, media sentiment, profitability, dividends, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Which has higher valuation and earnings, IRT or AVB?

AvalonBay Communities has higher revenue and earnings than Independence Realty Trust. AvalonBay Communities is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Independence Realty Trust, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Independence Realty Trust	$640.03M	6.45	$39.29M	$0.12	147.08
AvalonBay Communities	$2.98B	9.25	$1.08B	$8.12	23.85

Do analysts rate IRT or AVB?

Independence Realty Trust currently has a consensus target price of $22.56, suggesting a potential upside of 27.80%. AvalonBay Communities has a consensus target price of $225.64, suggesting a potential upside of 16.54%. Given Independence Realty Trust's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Independence Realty Trust is more favorable than AvalonBay Communities.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Independence Realty Trust	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.78
AvalonBay Communities	0 Sell rating(s)	9 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.40

Is IRT or AVB more profitable?

AvalonBay Communities has a net margin of 38.91% compared to Independence Realty Trust's net margin of 4.31%. AvalonBay Communities' return on equity of 9.70% beat Independence Realty Trust's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Independence Realty Trust	4.31%	0.78%	0.46%
AvalonBay Communities	38.91%	9.70%	5.45%

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in IRT or AVB?

88.3% of Independence Realty Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.6% of AvalonBay Communities shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of Independence Realty Trust shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of AvalonBay Communities shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media favor IRT or AVB?

In the previous week, AvalonBay Communities had 11 more articles in the media than Independence Realty Trust. MarketBeat recorded 19 mentions for AvalonBay Communities and 8 mentions for Independence Realty Trust. Independence Realty Trust's average media sentiment score of 1.60 beat AvalonBay Communities' score of 1.18 indicating that Independence Realty Trust is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Independence Realty Trust	8 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
AvalonBay Communities	14 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more volatility and risk, IRT or AVB?

Independence Realty Trust has a beta of 0.94, meaning that its share price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AvalonBay Communities has a beta of 0.86, meaning that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is IRT or AVB a better dividend stock?

Independence Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. AvalonBay Communities pays an annual dividend of $7.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Independence Realty Trust pays out 566.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. AvalonBay Communities pays out 86.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Independence Realty Trust has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years and AvalonBay Communities has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years.

Summary

AvalonBay Communities beats Independence Realty Trust on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.