American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE:AMH) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE:AMH - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the fifteen ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $40.90.

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of American Homes 4 Rent from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of American Homes 4 Rent from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on American Homes 4 Rent from $39.00 to $40.50 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on American Homes 4 Rent from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Citigroup lowered American Homes 4 Rent from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $41.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, June 6th.

American Homes 4 Rent Price Performance

AMH stock traded up $0.54 during trading on Friday, hitting $36.03. The stock had a trading volume of 1,595,061 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,222,780. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.52. American Homes 4 Rent has a twelve month low of $31.68 and a twelve month high of $41.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.36, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.74. The company's 50-day moving average price is $36.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.30.

American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE:AMH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.01. American Homes 4 Rent had a net margin of 23.41% and a return on equity of 5.45%. The business had revenue of $459.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $449.00 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.43 EPS. The business's revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that American Homes 4 Rent will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Homes 4 Rent Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. American Homes 4 Rent's payout ratio is currently 111.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Sara H. Vogt-Lowell sold 42,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.01, for a total value of $1,657,925.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 99,214 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,870,338.14. This represents a 29.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jack E. Corrigan bought 4,000 shares of American Homes 4 Rent stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $22.93 per share, with a total value of $91,720.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 15,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $343,950. The trade was a 36.36% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 6.01% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Homes 4 Rent

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AMH. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of American Homes 4 Rent in the fourth quarter valued at about $822,019,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of American Homes 4 Rent by 186.2% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,292,773 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $235,476,000 after buying an additional 4,094,177 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in American Homes 4 Rent during the first quarter worth about $113,669,000. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in American Homes 4 Rent by 336.7% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,079,945 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $116,453,000 after purchasing an additional 2,374,678 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in American Homes 4 Rent by 15.2% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 15,899,721 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $601,169,000 after purchasing an additional 2,094,497 shares in the last quarter. 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.