American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE:AMH) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.30

American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE:AMH) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 12th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of 0.30 per share by the real estate investment trust on Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from American Homes 4 Rent’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26.

American Homes 4 Rent has increased its dividend by an average of 37.5% annually over the last three years. American Homes 4 Rent has a dividend payout ratio of 142.5% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Research analysts expect American Homes 4 Rent to earn $1.86 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.04 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 55.9%.

American Homes 4 Rent Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:AMH traded up $0.59 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $35.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,189,326 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,245,959. American Homes 4 Rent has a 12-month low of $33.95 and a 12-month high of $41.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $36.03 and a 200-day moving average of $37.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.35, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Homes 4 Rent news, COO Bryan Smith sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.80, for a total transaction of $1,512,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 125,580 shares in the company, valued at $4,746,924. The trade was a 24.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Douglas N. Benham bought 3,286 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $24.49 per share, with a total value of $80,474.14. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 6.32% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMH has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of American Homes 4 Rent from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $41.00 price objective on shares of American Homes 4 Rent in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays cut their target price on American Homes 4 Rent from $39.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com cut American Homes 4 Rent from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut American Homes 4 Rent from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $40.67.

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.