American Homes 4 Rent (AMH) Could Be a Great Choice
Getting big returns from financial portfolios, whether through stocks, bonds, ETFs, other securities, or a combination of all, is an investor's dream. But when you're an income investor, your primary focus is generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments.
Cash flow can come from bond interest, interest from other types of investments, and of course, dividends. A dividend is that coveted distribution of a company's earnings paid out to shareholders, and investors often view it by its dividend yield, a metric that measures the dividend as a percent of the current stock price. Many academic studies show that dividends make up large portions of long-term returns, and in many cases, dividend contributions surpass one-third of total returns.
American Homes 4 Rent in Focus
Based in Las Vegas, American Homes 4 Rent (AMH) is in the Finance sector, and so far this year, shares have seen a price change of 19.28%. The real estate company is currently shelling out a dividend of $0.22 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.45%. This compares to the REIT and Equity Trust - Residential industry's yield of 3.86% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.62%.
Taking a look at the company's dividend growth, its current annualized dividend of $0.88 is up 22.2% from last year. American Homes 4 Rent has increased its dividend 3 times on a year-over-year basis over the last 5 years for an average annual increase of 46.04%. Any future dividend growth will depend on both earnings growth and the company's payout ratio; a payout ratio is the proportion of a firm's annual earnings per share that it pays out as a dividend. Right now, American Homes 4 Rent's payout ratio is 55%, which means it paid out 55% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.
Earnings growth looks solid for AMH for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2023 is $1.65 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 7.14%.
Bottom Line
From greatly improving stock investing profits and reducing overall portfolio risk to providing tax advantages, investors like dividends for a variety of different reasons. However, not all companies offer a quarterly payout.
High-growth firms or tech start-ups, for example, rarely provide their shareholders a dividend, while larger, more established companies that have more secure profits are often seen as the best dividend options. Income investors have to be mindful of the fact that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle during periods of rising interest rates. That said, they can take comfort from the fact that AMH is not only an attractive dividend play, but also represents a compelling investment opportunity with a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
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American Homes 4 Rent (AMH) : Free Stock Analysis Report
