ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Sell”

StockNews.com cut shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Friday morning.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on ARR. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. B. Riley raised shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, BTIG Research started coverage on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a report on Monday, February 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.50.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Stock Down 0.1 %

ARR stock opened at $19.19 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.13 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.43. ARMOUR Residential REIT has a fifty-two week low of $17.35 and a fifty-two week high of $21.93.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 15.01%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. ARMOUR Residential REIT’s payout ratio is 122.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at ARMOUR Residential REIT

In other ARMOUR Residential REIT news, Director Stewart J. Paperin sold 24,852 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.78, for a total value of $466,720.56. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,817.14. This represents a 98.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert C. Hain sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.07, for a total transaction of $45,175.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $122,749.51. This represents a 26.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of ARMOUR Residential REIT

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ARR. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in ARMOUR Residential REIT during the fourth quarter valued at about $19,865,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 17.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,046,157 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $114,031,000 after buying an additional 895,433 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 86.3% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,628,903 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,721,000 after buying an additional 754,582 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,304,665 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $24,611,000 after buying an additional 156,514 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in ARMOUR Residential REIT during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,619,000. 54.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Company Profile

ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc invests in residential mortgage-backed securities (MBS) in the United States. Its securities portfolio primarily consists of the United States Government-sponsored entity's (GSE) and the Government National Mortgage Administration's issued or guaranteed securities backed by fixed rate, hybrid adjustable rate, and adjustable-rate home loans; and unsecured notes and bonds issued by the GSE and the United States treasuries, as well as money market instruments.