ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR) Sets New 12-Month Low – Here’s What Happened

Shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday. The stock traded as low as $13.55 and last traded at $13.5920, with a volume of 669144 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $13.83.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ARR. Zacks Research raised shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Weiss Ratings downgraded ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.50.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Trading Down 1.4%

The firm has a market cap of $1.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 1.36. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.62.

ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.72. The firm had revenue of $113.29 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.98 million. ARMOUR Residential REIT had a net margin of 44.90% and a return on equity of 15.10%. On average, analysts forecast that ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 21.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 15th. ARMOUR Residential REIT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.42%.

Insider Transactions at ARMOUR Residential REIT

In related news, Chairman Daniel Staton sold 35,583 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.86, for a total value of $564,346.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Independent Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in ARMOUR Residential REIT during the first quarter worth approximately $1,458,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 234.6% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 664,247 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $11,080,000 after purchasing an additional 465,733 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in ARMOUR Residential REIT in the second quarter valued at approximately $13,757,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 15.0% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,745,078 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $82,802,000 after buying an additional 619,020 shares during the period. Finally, Strait & Sound Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,224,000. 54.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.