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

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

American Homes 4 Rent Price Performance

Shares of AMH stock traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $34.86. The company had a trading volume of 787,694 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,454,889. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.46. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $35.84 and a 200-day moving average of $35.37. The company has a market capitalization of $12.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.68, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.70. American Homes 4 Rent has a 12-month low of $31.36 and a 12-month high of $37.97.

American Homes 4 Rent Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered American Homes 4 Rent from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on American Homes 4 Rent in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James boosted their price objective on American Homes 4 Rent from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. 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 note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded American Homes 4 Rent from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $37.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. One research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.67.

Insider Activity at American Homes 4 Rent

In related news, COO Bryan Smith sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.77, for a total value of $1,838,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 125,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,617,576.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, COO Bryan Smith sold 50,000 shares of American Homes 4 Rent stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.77, for a total value of $1,838,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 125,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,617,576.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Brian Reitz sold 3,000 shares of American Homes 4 Rent stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.53, for a total value of $106,590.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 35,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,255,736.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 60,263 shares of company stock valued at $2,212,078 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 6.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMH. MetLife Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in American Homes 4 Rent in the first quarter valued at approximately $236,000. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can lifted its holdings in American Homes 4 Rent by 5.6% in the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 255,574 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,631,000 after acquiring an additional 13,647 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in American Homes 4 Rent by 5.1% in the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 15,912 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $637,000 after acquiring an additional 767 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in American Homes 4 Rent by 3.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,597,311 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $184,037,000 after acquiring an additional 134,931 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in American Homes 4 Rent by 16.3% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 244,953 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,809,000 after acquiring an additional 34,401 shares during the last quarter. 91.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.