Contrasting Kilroy Realty (NYSE:KRC) and Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT)

Independence Realty Trust (NYSE:IRT) and Kilroy Realty (NYSE:KRC) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings and profitability.

Volatility and Risk

Independence Realty Trust has a beta of 1.17, suggesting that its stock price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Kilroy Realty has a beta of 1.03, suggesting that its stock price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

88.3% of Independence Realty Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.2% of Kilroy Realty shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of Independence Realty Trust shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.5% of Kilroy Realty shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Independence Realty Trust and Kilroy Realty, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Independence Realty Trust	1	0	6	0	2.71
Kilroy Realty	0	6	2	0	2.25

Independence Realty Trust currently has a consensus price target of $19.57, suggesting a potential downside of 6.36%. Kilroy Realty has a consensus price target of $39.43, suggesting a potential downside of 5.04%. Given Kilroy Realty’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Kilroy Realty is more favorable than Independence Realty Trust.

Dividends

Independence Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Kilroy Realty pays an annual dividend of $2.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.2%. Kilroy Realty pays out 129.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Profitability

This table compares Independence Realty Trust and Kilroy Realty’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Independence Realty Trust	-0.03%	-0.01%	N/A
Kilroy Realty	17.78%	3.53%	1.73%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Independence Realty Trust and Kilroy Realty”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Independence Realty Trust	$660.98 million	7.12	-$17.23 million	N/A	N/A
Kilroy Realty	$1.13 billion	4.34	$212.24 million	$1.67	24.86

Kilroy Realty has higher revenue and earnings than Independence Realty Trust.

Summary

Kilroy Realty beats Independence Realty Trust on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. IRT’s investment strategy is focused on gaining scale near major employment centers within key amenity rich submarkets that offer good school districts and high-quality retail. IRT aims to provide stockholders attractive risk-adjusted returns through diligent portfolio management, strong operational performance, and a consistent return on capital through distributions and capital appreciation.

About Kilroy Realty

Kilroy Realty Corporation (NYSE: KRC, the company, Kilroy) is a leading U.S. landlord and developer, with operations in San Diego, Greater Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Greater Seattle and Austin. The company has earned global recognition for sustainability, building operations, innovation and design. As a pioneer and innovator in the creation of a more sustainable real estate industry, the company's approach to modern business environments helps drive creativity and productivity for some of the world's leading technology, entertainment, life science and business services companies. The company is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) and member of the S&P MidCap 400 Index with more than seven decades of experience developing, acquiring and managing office, life science and mixed-use projects. As of December 31, 2023, Kilroy's stabilized portfolio totaled approximately 17.0 million square feet of primarily office and life science space that was 85.0% occupied and 86.4% leased. The company also had approximately 1,000 residential units in Hollywood and San Diego, which had a quarterly average occupancy of 92.5%. In addition, the company had two in-process life science redevelopment projects totaling approximately 100,000 square feet with total estimated redevelopment costs of $80.0 million and one approximately 875,000 square foot in-process development project with a total estimated investment of $1.0 billion.