Douglas Bentham, a director at American Homes 4 Rent (AMH), recently bought 3,946 shares. The buy increased his holdings by about 12 percent, and came to a total cost of $95,181.
The director was also the last buyer of shares in March, for about $190,000 in two transactions. In the intervening time, several company executives have been sellers of shares, including the company’s CFO and COO.
Overall, company insiders own about 7.9 percent of shares.
The single family home rental company is down about 11 percent in the past year.
However, thanks to rising rents, revenues and earnings are both up, with earnings up nearly 96 percent. The downside is that higher home prices and higher interest rates make future acquisitions less likely right now, and could weigh on the valuation of the company’s existing homes.
Action to take: Given the strong demand for rental properties, investors may be interested in shares at a price closer to $30 per share. That said, income investors may want to look elsewhere. Shares pay a 2.6 percent dividend, which is on the low side for a real estate investment trust (REIT).
For traders, shares have been rangebound over the past year, and are trending down. The September $30 puts, last going for about $0.60, could see mid-to-high double-digit returns on a further decline.
Disclosure: The author of this article has no position in the company mentioned here, but may trade after the next 72 hours. The author receives no compensation from any of the companies mentioned in this article.