American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE:AMH) Short Interest Up 10.0% in November

American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE:AMH) was the target of 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 trading volume of 2,130,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.3 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Homes 4 Rent

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AMH. TCW Group Inc. acquired a new stake in American Homes 4 Rent in the 3rd quarter worth about $962,000. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of American Homes 4 Rent by 14.3% in the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 400,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $14,864,000 after buying an additional 50,000 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in American Homes 4 Rent during the second quarter worth approximately $17,367,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in American Homes 4 Rent during the 3rd quarter worth $53,000. Finally, Easterly Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in American Homes 4 Rent by 96.7% in the 2nd quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 248,314 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,227,000 after acquiring an additional 122,048 shares in the last quarter. 91.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Homes 4 Rent Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of AMH opened at $37.44 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $13.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.58. American Homes 4 Rent has a 52 week low of $33.75 and a 52 week high of $41.41. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.61.

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

American Homes 4 Rent Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on AMH. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of American Homes 4 Rent from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock 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 report on Tuesday, December 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on American Homes 4 Rent in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded American Homes 4 Rent from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $36.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on American Homes 4 Rent from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.56.

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.