American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE:AMH) Raises Dividend to $0.30 Per Share

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

American Homes 4 Rent has raised 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% indicating that 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 Performance

American Homes 4 Rent stock traded up $0.59 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $35.85. 2,189,326 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,245,959. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $36.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.78. American Homes 4 Rent has a 1 year low of $33.95 and a 1 year high of $41.41.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMH has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of 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. 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 research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered American Homes 4 Rent from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $37.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com lowered shares of American Homes 4 Rent from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded American Homes 4 Rent from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $39.00 to $40.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Douglas N. Benham acquired 3,286 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $24.49 per share, for a total transaction of $80,474.14. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 41,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,027,257.54. This represents a 8.50 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 125,580 shares in the company, valued at $4,746,924. This represents a 24.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 6.32% of the company’s stock.

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.