ING Groep NV Acquires Shares of 60,000 American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE:AMH)

ING Groep NV purchased a new position in American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE:AMH) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 60,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $2,245,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AMH. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of American Homes 4 Rent by 2.4% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 14,181 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $544,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 478 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 503 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of American Homes 4 Rent by 19.9% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,589 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $138,000 after acquiring an additional 596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of American Homes 4 Rent by 77.2% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,393 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares during the last quarter. 91.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Homes 4 Rent Price Performance

NYSE AMH opened at $35.11 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $12.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.51, a PEG 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’s 50 day moving average is $35.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE:AMH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $436.59 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $442.02 million. American Homes 4 Rent had a net margin of 23.86% and a return on equity of 5.35%. 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. This is an increase from American Homes 4 Rent’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. American Homes 4 Rent’s dividend payout ratio is presently 96.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of American Homes 4 Rent from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $41.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut American Homes 4 Rent from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on American Homes 4 Rent from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of American Homes 4 Rent from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $38.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $41.00 target price on shares of American Homes 4 Rent in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $40.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at American Homes 4 Rent

In other news, 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 transaction of $1,512,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Douglas N. Benham purchased 3,286 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were purchased 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 owns 41,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,027,257.54. The trade was a 8.50 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 6.32% of the company’s stock.

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.