ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR) Share Price Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR)’s stock price passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $16.82 and traded as high as $17.90. ARMOUR Residential REIT shares last traded at $17.8250, with a volume of 2,625,101 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ARR shares. Wall Street Zen lowered ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. JonesTrading lowered their price objective on ARMOUR Residential REIT from $20.50 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Zacks Research cut shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Compass Point assumed coverage on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a research note on Monday, December 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $18.50 price target for the company. Three equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ARMOUR Residential REIT has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.17.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.53 and a beta of 1.44. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $18.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.82.

ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.03). ARMOUR Residential REIT had a net margin of 40.31% and a return on equity of 15.30%. The company had revenue of $236.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.34 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. will post 3.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 16.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. ARMOUR Residential REIT’s payout ratio is currently 105.49%.

Insider Transactions at ARMOUR Residential REIT

In related news, Director Robert C. Hain sold 6,833 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.06, for a total value of $123,403.98. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,010 shares in the company, valued at $18,240.60. The trade was a 87.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wolverine Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 570.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 848,724 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $12,680,000 after purchasing an additional 722,160 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 35.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,995,105 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $179,207,000 after purchasing an additional 3,147,068 shares during the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT during the third quarter valued at $1,037,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 34.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 543,434 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,119,000 after purchasing an additional 138,039 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 57.6% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 439,096 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,560,000 after buying an additional 160,422 shares during the last quarter. 54.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.