ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR) Announces Monthly Dividend of $0.24

ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR) declared a monthly dividend on Tuesday, March 25th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of 0.24 per share by the real estate investment trust on Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 16.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th.

ARMOUR Residential REIT has a payout ratio of 76.8% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings decline. Analysts expect ARMOUR Residential REIT to earn $4.25 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.88 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 67.8%.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Trading Down 2.8 %

ARR stock traded down $0.52 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $17.65. 4,052,286 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,572,049. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $18.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.15. ARMOUR Residential REIT has a 12-month low of $17.35 and a 12-month high of $21.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -41.03 and a beta of 1.53.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a research report on Monday, February 10th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, B. Riley raised ARMOUR Residential REIT to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, ARMOUR Residential REIT currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at ARMOUR Residential REIT

In other news, Director Stewart J. Paperin sold 24,852 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.78, for a total transaction of $466,720.56. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert C. Hain sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.07, for a total value of $45,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,793 shares in the company, 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 insiders.

About ARMOUR Residential REIT

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.