Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 9,600 Shares of American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE:AMH)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB reduced its position in American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE:AMH) by 9.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 89,892 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 9,600 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in American Homes 4 Rent were worth $3,364,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Creative Planning lifted its position in American Homes 4 Rent by 2.4% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 14,181 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $544,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in American Homes 4 Rent by 3.3% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 14,896 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $572,000 after purchasing an additional 478 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in American Homes 4 Rent by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,091 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $153,000 after purchasing an additional 503 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in American Homes 4 Rent by 19.9% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,589 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $138,000 after purchasing an additional 596 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in American Homes 4 Rent by 77.2% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,393 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 607 shares in the last quarter. 91.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Homes 4 Rent Price Performance

American Homes 4 Rent stock opened at $35.11 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.36. The stock has a market cap of $12.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.78. American Homes 4 Rent has a 12-month low of $34.01 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.

American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE:AMH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $436.59 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $442.02 million. American Homes 4 Rent had a return on equity of 5.35% and a net margin of 23.86%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that American Homes 4 Rent will post 1.86 earnings per share for the current year.

American Homes 4 Rent Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This is a boost from American Homes 4 Rent’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. American Homes 4 Rent’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 111.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Douglas N. Benham bought 3,286 shares of American Homes 4 Rent stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $24.49 per share, for a total transaction of $80,474.14. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 41,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,027,257.54. This represents a 8.50 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Bryan Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 125,580 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,746,924. This trade represents a 24.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 6.32% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI upgraded American Homes 4 Rent from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $41.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Scotiabank lowered American Homes 4 Rent from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $38.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com lowered American Homes 4 Rent from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays dropped their price objective on American Homes 4 Rent from $39.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded American Homes 4 Rent from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $39.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.67.

American Homes 4 Rent Profile

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.