Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stock Position in American Homes 4 Rent $AMH

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE:AMH) by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 14,550,247 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 584,542 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in American Homes 4 Rent were worth $483,796,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AMH. Norges Bank acquired a new position in American Homes 4 Rent during the second quarter worth $796,706,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of American Homes 4 Rent by 0.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,964,813 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $250,566,000 after purchasing an additional 31,179 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Homes 4 Rent by 1.3% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,421,478 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $159,483,000 after purchasing an additional 54,618 shares in the last quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of American Homes 4 Rent by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 4,280,147 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $154,385,000 after purchasing an additional 168,851 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in American Homes 4 Rent by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,043,364 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $109,774,000 after buying an additional 86,735 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on AMH shares. Scotiabank cut their price objective on American Homes 4 Rent from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Barclays dropped their price target on American Homes 4 Rent from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American Homes 4 Rent in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Citizens Jmp restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $41.00 price objective on shares of American Homes 4 Rent in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of American Homes 4 Rent from $38.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.44.

American Homes 4 Rent Stock Performance

NYSE AMH opened at $31.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.41. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $31.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.79. American Homes 4 Rent has a fifty-two week low of $28.84 and a fifty-two week high of $39.49.

American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE:AMH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.01. American Homes 4 Rent had a net margin of 24.70% and a return on equity of 5.90%. The firm had revenue of $478.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $475.75 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.44 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that American Homes 4 Rent will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

American Homes 4 Rent Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. American Homes 4 Rent’s payout ratio is presently 101.69%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Douglas N. Benham purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $31.65 per share, with a total value of $31,650.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 7,991 shares in the company, valued at approximately $252,915.15. This represents a 14.30% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Jack E. Corrigan purchased 5,000 shares of American Homes 4 Rent stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $22.96 per share, for a total transaction of $114,800.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 17,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $397,208. This trade represents a 40.65% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 6.32% of the company’s stock.

American Homes 4 Rent Company Profile

American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE: AMH) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) specializing in the acquisition, development and management of single-family rental homes. Since its initial public offering in April 2013, the company has focused on building a large-scale, professionally managed portfolio of homes designed to meet the needs of today’s renters. Its business model emphasizes the acquisition of well-located properties coupled with consistent, in-house property management to drive occupancy and long-term value.

As of the most recent reporting, American Homes 4 Rent owns and operates tens of thousands of homes across the United States, with concentration in key Sun Belt and high-growth markets.