American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE:AMH) Short Interest Update

American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE:AMH) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 9,250,000 shares, an increase of 10.0% from the November 15th total of 8,410,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,130,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.3 days.

American Homes 4 Rent Stock Performance

Shares of AMH stock traded down $0.33 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $37.37. 2,634,504 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,530,028. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.81 billion, a PE ratio of 38.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.78. American Homes 4 Rent has a 12 month low of $33.75 and a 12 month high of $41.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $37.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.58.

American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE:AMH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.23). American Homes 4 Rent had a net margin of 21.51% and a return on equity of 4.76%. The company had revenue of $445.06 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $443.81 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.41 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that American Homes 4 Rent will post 1.77 EPS for the current year.

American Homes 4 Rent Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. American Homes 4 Rent’s payout ratio is 108.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of American Homes 4 Rent from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $36.00 to $42.00 in a report on Monday, August 26th. Evercore ISI raised American Homes 4 Rent from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $41.00 to $42.00 in a report on Monday, November 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on American Homes 4 Rent from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com cut American Homes 4 Rent from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of American Homes 4 Rent in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, American Homes 4 Rent currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.56.

Insider Transactions at American Homes 4 Rent

In other news, Director Douglas N. Benham bought 3,286 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $24.49 per share, with a total value of $80,474.14. Following the transaction, the director now owns 41,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,027,257.54. The trade was a 8.50 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Bryan Smith sold 40,000 shares of American Homes 4 Rent stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.80, for a total value of $1,512,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 125,580 shares in the company, valued at $4,746,924. This represents a 24.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Homes 4 Rent

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of American Homes 4 Rent by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,225,592 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $315,780,000 after buying an additional 937,116 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in American Homes 4 Rent by 7.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,935,560 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $183,403,000 after acquiring an additional 334,358 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Homes 4 Rent by 1.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,224,013 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $162,160,000 after acquiring an additional 62,367 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of American Homes 4 Rent by 1.0% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,951,840 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $146,850,000 after acquiring an additional 37,757 shares during the period. Finally, Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of American Homes 4 Rent by 1.5% in the second quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 3,691,640 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $137,181,000 after acquiring an additional 53,648 shares during the period. 91.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About American Homes 4 Rent

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.