ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating on ARMOUR Residential REIT, with one sell, two hold, and two buy recommendations. The average 12-month price target is $18.50.
• ARR shares opened at $13.82, near their 12-month low of $13.76 and below their 50-day and 200-day moving averages. The company recently met earnings expectations with quarterly EPS of $0.72 and revenue of $113.29 million.
• ARMOUR declared a monthly dividend of $0.24 per share, equivalent to $2.88 annually and a 20.8% yield; institutional investors own 54.17% of the stock, while the chairman recently sold 35,583 shares.

Shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the five analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $18.50.

ARR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded ARMOUR Residential REIT from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th.

Insider Buying and Selling at ARMOUR Residential REIT

In other news, Chairman Daniel Staton sold 35,583 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.86, for a total transaction of $564,346.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ARMOUR Residential REIT

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kovack Advisors Inc. increased its position in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 2.9% in the second quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 29,016 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $501,000 after buying an additional 814 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 16.8% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 7,593 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $133,000 after buying an additional 1,091 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 576.2% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,420 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 1,210 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 61.0% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,454 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 1,309 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 50,103 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $836,000 after acquiring an additional 1,612 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.17% of the company's stock.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of ARR opened at $13.82 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $15.89 and a 200 day moving average of $16.62. The company has a market capitalization of $1.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.36. ARMOUR Residential REIT has a 12 month low of $13.76 and a 12 month high of $19.31.

ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.72. The business had revenue of $113.29 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $111.98 million. ARMOUR Residential REIT had a return on equity of 15.10% and a net margin of 44.90%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that ARMOUR Residential REIT will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current year.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 20.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 15th. ARMOUR Residential REIT's dividend payout ratio is currently 77.42%.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Company Profile

ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc is a real estate investment trust that invests primarily in residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS). Its portfolio is focused mainly on securities issued or guaranteed by government-sponsored enterprises and U.S. government agencies, including Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae.

The company seeks to generate income from its investment portfolio and finances its activities through arrangements such as repurchase agreements. ARMOUR also uses interest-rate hedging strategies and other financial instruments to manage exposure to changing interest rates, financing costs and market conditions.

ARMOUR Residential REIT was organized in 2007 and is externally managed by ARMOUR Capital Management LP.

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