Stifel analyst John Guinee initiated Independence Realty Trust with a Hold rating and a price target of $11, saying that while he is positive on the company's acquisition strategy of investing in "higher job growth markets and sub markets," its leverage is "too high to attract most institutional investors". The analyst adds that a payout of 72c annual dividend is "exceedingly high" and yields "no cash retained to re-invest".

Same-store portfolio net operating income growth of 2.4% for the quarter ended March 31, 2024 compared to the quarter ended March 31, 2023. "For the first quarter of 2024, we delivered a 3.4% increase in same-store revenue, supported by our focus on driving occupancy. Our same-store average occupancy improved 120 basis points in the quarter on a year-over-year basis to 94.4%, and we continued to see positive momentum in April, with average occupancy rising to 95.0%," said Scott Schaeffer, Chairman and CEO of IRT. "We also continued to successfully execute our business plan, including the advancement of our Portfolio Optimization and Deleveraging Strategy. As of March 31, 2024, we had sold nine of the ten non-core assets and exited four single-asset markets while further strengthening our balance sheet, which helped us achieve an investment grade rating from Fitch Ratings, as announced last month. We look forward to building on our first quarter successes during the remainder of the year."