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

ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR) was upgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

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

ARMOUR Residential REIT Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ARR opened at $16.36 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $16.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.38. ARMOUR Residential REIT has a 1-year low of $13.98 and a 1-year high of $19.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.52 and a beta of 1.36.

ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.72. ARMOUR Residential REIT had a net margin of 27.43% and a return on equity of 15.39%. The business had revenue of $113.29 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.98 million. Sell-side analysts expect that ARMOUR Residential REIT will post 2.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ARMOUR Residential REIT

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,920,206 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $69,348,000 after buying an additional 53,570 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 365.7% in the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,495,203 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $37,278,000 after acquiring an additional 1,959,447 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 22.3% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,855,148 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $27,716,000 after acquiring an additional 338,134 shares during the period. UBS Group AG raised its stake in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 4.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 29.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,149,610 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $17,175,000 after acquiring an additional 261,315 shares in the last quarter. 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.