American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE:AMH) Upgraded to Overweight at Morgan Stanley

American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE:AMH) was upgraded by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm presently has a $40.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their previous price target of $39.00. Morgan Stanley’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 15.59% from the company’s previous close.

AMH has been the topic of several other research reports. Barclays assumed coverage on American Homes 4 Rent in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $39.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of American Homes 4 Rent from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $41.00 target price on shares of American Homes 4 Rent in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased 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. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on American Homes 4 Rent from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, American Homes 4 Rent presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.67.

American Homes 4 Rent Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AMH opened at $34.60 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.78. American Homes 4 Rent has a 1-year low of $33.75 and a 1-year high of $41.41. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.58.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Homes 4 Rent news, COO Bryan Smith sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was 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 trade represents a 24.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Douglas N. Benham bought 3,286 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $24.49 per share, with a total value of $80,474.14. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 41,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,027,257.54. This trade represents a 8.50 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 6.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Homes 4 Rent

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AMH. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in American Homes 4 Rent during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of American Homes 4 Rent by 331.9% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 786 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 604 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Homes 4 Rent by 359.1% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,010 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 790 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its stake in American Homes 4 Rent by 31.6% in the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,144 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the period. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in American Homes 4 Rent during the 3rd quarter worth about $53,000. 91.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About American Homes 4 Rent

American Homes 4 Rent operates as a real estate investment trust. It engages in the acquisition, renovation, leasing, and operating of single-family homes as rental properties. The company was founded by Bradley Wayne Hughes, Sr. on October 19, 2012 and is headquartered in Las Vegas, NV.