ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the five analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $18.50.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ARR shares. Weiss Ratings cut ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Zacks Research raised ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT stock opened at $15.85 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.26 and a beta of 1.36. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $16.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $16.94. ARMOUR Residential REIT has a 52-week low of $13.98 and a 52-week high of $19.31.

ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72. The company had revenue of $113.29 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.98 million. ARMOUR Residential REIT had a net margin of 44.90% and a return on equity of 15.10%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that ARMOUR Residential REIT will post 2.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 18.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. ARMOUR Residential REIT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.42%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ARMOUR Residential REIT

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp increased its stake in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,920,206 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $69,348,000 after purchasing an additional 53,570 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 1,605.3% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 2,523,096 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,028,000 after buying an additional 2,375,141 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 365.7% during the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,495,203 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $37,278,000 after buying an additional 1,959,447 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 22.3% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,855,148 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $27,716,000 after buying an additional 338,134 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG increased its position in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,154,875 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $20,430,000 after acquiring an additional 45,023 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.17% of the company’s stock.

About ARMOUR Residential REIT

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.