ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR) Raised to "Hold" at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research upgraded ARMOUR Residential REIT from “strong sell” to “hold”, adding to a mixed set of Wall Street opinions on the stock.
• Analyst sentiment is currently split, but the overall consensus from MarketBeat is “Hold” with a $18.50 average price target. Recent notes also included a buy rating from JonesTrading, a neutral rating from UBS, and a sell rating from Weiss Ratings.
• The company most recently met earnings expectations, reporting $0.72 EPS on revenue of $113.29 million, while the stock was trading around $16.36 and remained below the consensus target.

ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

ARR has been the topic of a number of other reports. JonesTrading cut their price objective on ARMOUR Residential REIT from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $18.00 price target (up from $17.50) on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $18.50.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of ARR opened at $16.36 on Tuesday. ARMOUR Residential REIT has a fifty-two week low of $13.98 and a fifty-two week high of $19.31. The company's fifty day moving average is $16.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.38. The firm has a market cap of $2.03 billion, a PE ratio of 8.52 and a beta of 1.36.

ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.72. ARMOUR Residential REIT had a return on equity of 15.39% and a net margin of 27.43%.The business had revenue of $113.29 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.98 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that ARMOUR Residential REIT will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ARMOUR Residential REIT

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 50.3% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 122,055 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,088,000 after acquiring an additional 40,860 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 26.1% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 14,393 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $246,000 after purchasing an additional 2,980 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 38.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 807,027 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $13,800,000 after purchasing an additional 222,923 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 189.5% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 92,237 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,577,000 after purchasing an additional 60,371 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in ARMOUR Residential REIT during the 1st quarter worth approximately $181,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.17% of the company's stock.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Company Profile

ARMOUR Residential REIT NYSE: ARR is a mortgage real estate investment trust that was formed in 2008 to acquire and manage a portfolio of residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS). The company's investments are primarily agency-sponsored and agency-guaranteed RMBS issued by U.S. government-sponsored enterprises, along with credit risk transfer securities and select non-agency residential and multifamily RMBS. By focusing on high-quality mortgage assets, ARMOUR Residential REIT seeks to generate stable income and preserve capital through diversified exposure to the U.S.

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