Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 73,599 Shares of American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE:AMH)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE:AMH - Free Report) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,007,767 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 73,599 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 4.70% of American Homes 4 Rent worth $611,599,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Homes 4 Rent during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of American Homes 4 Rent by 1,091.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 953 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 873 shares during the last quarter. Tobam lifted its position in shares of American Homes 4 Rent by 2,192.9% during the 4th quarter. Tobam now owns 963 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 921 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Homes 4 Rent during the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC lifted its position in shares of American Homes 4 Rent by 58.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 1,436 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 528 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.87% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on American Homes 4 Rent in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $42.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on American Homes 4 Rent from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday. 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. StockNews.com lowered American Homes 4 Rent from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on American Homes 4 Rent from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $39.62.

American Homes 4 Rent Trading Down 0.4 %

AMH stock traded down $0.14 during trading on Monday, hitting $35.93. 996,176 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,232,965. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.16 billion, a PE ratio of 37.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.70. American Homes 4 Rent has a 1 year low of $31.36 and a 1 year high of $37.97. The company has a 50-day moving average of $36.09 and a 200-day moving average of $35.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.59.

American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE:AMH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 10th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $423.56 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $421.28 million. American Homes 4 Rent had a net margin of 22.55% and a return on equity of 5.00%. The company's revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. Analysts predict that American Homes 4 Rent will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Homes 4 Rent Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. American Homes 4 Rent's dividend payout ratio is presently 106.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Homes 4 Rent news, COO Bryan Smith sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 125,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,617,576.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other American Homes 4 Rent news, COO Bryan Smith sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 125,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,617,576.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Brian Reitz sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.53, for a total value of $106,590.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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. In the last 90 days, insiders acquired 14,476 shares of company stock worth $331,919 and sold 60,263 shares worth $2,212,078. Company insiders own 6.05% of the company's stock.

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.

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