ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR) Holdings Boosted by BNP Paribas Financial Markets

BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR) by 17.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,412 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 4,932 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned 0.06% of ARMOUR Residential REIT worth $611,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Private Trust Co. NA purchased a new position in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 927.9% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,768 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,596 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 35.2% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,695 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 702 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 117.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,465 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 1,874 shares during the period. Finally, C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. bought a new stake in ARMOUR Residential REIT in the fourth quarter valued at about $75,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ARR. Jones Trading reissued a “hold” rating on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a report on Monday, February 10th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, ARMOUR Residential REIT currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.50.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE:ARR opened at $15.98 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a P/E ratio of -37.15 and a beta of 1.36. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $16.11 and its 200-day moving average is $17.90. ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. has a 1-year low of $13.18 and a 1-year high of $21.93.

ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.05. ARMOUR Residential REIT had a positive return on equity of 16.00% and a negative net margin of 2.61%. The business had revenue of $75.29 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.59 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. will post 3.8 EPS for the current year.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 18.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. ARMOUR Residential REIT’s dividend payout ratio is currently -822.86%.

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.