American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE:AMH) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE:AMH) was the target of a significant decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 13,920,000 shares, a decline of 7.6% from the March 15th total of 15,070,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,700,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.8 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Homes 4 Rent news, Director Matthew J. Hart sold 7,263 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.76, for a total value of $266,987.88. Following the transaction, the director now owns 41,336 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,519,511.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Brian Reitz sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.53, for a total transaction of $106,590.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 35,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,255,736.79. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Matthew J. Hart sold 7,263 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.76, for a total value of $266,987.88. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 41,336 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,519,511.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 60,263 shares of company stock valued at $2,212,078. Insiders own 6.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Homes 4 Rent

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in American Homes 4 Rent in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $510,000. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its stake in shares of American Homes 4 Rent by 18.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 7,711 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $260,000 after purchasing an additional 1,183 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Homes 4 Rent by 59.2% in the 4th quarter. Manning & Napier Group LLC now owns 172,372 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,198,000 after purchasing an additional 64,131 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Homes 4 Rent by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 135,180 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,554,000 after purchasing an additional 3,736 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Homes 4 Rent by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,111,434 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $273,274,000 after purchasing an additional 287,245 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.87% of the company’s stock.

American Homes 4 Rent Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE AMH traded up $0.19 on Wednesday, hitting $34.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 787,694 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,454,889. American Homes 4 Rent has a 52-week low of $31.36 and a 52-week high of $37.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.37. The firm has a market cap of $12.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.68, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.70.

American Homes 4 Rent Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. This is a boost from American Homes 4 Rent’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. American Homes 4 Rent’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 104.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised American Homes 4 Rent from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $34.00 to $41.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $39.00 price objective on shares of American Homes 4 Rent in a research report on Monday, February 26th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on American Homes 4 Rent in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $42.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com lowered American Homes 4 Rent from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on American Homes 4 Rent from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $39.67.

American Homes 4 Rent Company Profile

AMH (NYSE: AMH) is a leading large-scale integrated owner, operator and developer of single-family rental homes. We're an internally managed Maryland real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on acquiring, developing, renovating, leasing and managing homes as rental properties. Our goal is to simplify the experience of leasing a home and deliver peace of mind to households across the country.