American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE:AMH) Stock Position Increased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE:AMH - Free Report) by 6.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,987,142 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 1,015,351 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 4.33% of American Homes 4 Rent worth $598,232,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in American Homes 4 Rent by 2,150.3% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,935,007 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $74,276,000 after acquiring an additional 1,849,020 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its holdings in American Homes 4 Rent by 783.3% in the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,107,227 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $42,507,000 after acquiring an additional 981,872 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in American Homes 4 Rent by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,225,592 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $315,780,000 after acquiring an additional 937,116 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in American Homes 4 Rent by 553.0% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 378,819 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $14,543,000 after acquiring an additional 320,805 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of American Homes 4 Rent by 112.3% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 457,513 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $17,564,000 after buying an additional 242,043 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.87% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AMH. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $41.00 price objective on shares of American Homes 4 Rent in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com cut shares of American Homes 4 Rent from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Evercore ISI raised shares of 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 report on Monday, November 11th. Scotiabank cut shares of 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 report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective 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 report on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $40.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other American Homes 4 Rent news, Director Douglas N. Benham purchased 3,286 shares of American Homes 4 Rent stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $24.49 per share, for a total transaction of $80,474.14. Following the transaction, the director now owns 41,946 shares in the company, valued at $1,027,257.54. This represents a 8.50 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through 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 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 approximately $4,746,924. The trade was a 24.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

American Homes 4 Rent Price Performance

Shares of AMH stock traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $35.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 546,712 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,188,893. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $13.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a fifty day moving average of $35.87 and a 200-day moving average of $37.41. American Homes 4 Rent has a twelve month low of $34.01 and a twelve month high of $41.41.

American Homes 4 Rent Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This is an increase from American Homes 4 Rent's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. American Homes 4 Rent's dividend payout ratio is presently 125.00%.

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.