Brokerages Set ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR) Target Price at $18.50

ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $18.50.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. JonesTrading dropped their price objective on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $18.00 price objective (up from $17.50) on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Stock Performance

NYSE:ARR opened at $16.40 on Friday. ARMOUR Residential REIT has a one year low of $13.98 and a one year high of $19.31. The stock has a market cap of $2.03 billion, a PE ratio of 8.54 and a beta of 1.36. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $16.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.40.

ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $70.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $155.79 million. ARMOUR Residential REIT had a return on equity of 15.39% and a net margin of 27.43%. As a group, analysts predict that ARMOUR Residential REIT will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 15th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 17.6%. ARMOUR Residential REIT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 150.00%.

Institutional Trading of ARMOUR Residential REIT

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ARR. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 365.7% during the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,495,203 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $37,278,000 after acquiring an additional 1,959,447 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 115.9% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,109,852 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $16,581,000 after acquiring an additional 595,773 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 234.6% during the 1st 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 during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 341.4% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 471,298 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,337,000 after purchasing an additional 364,515 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 22.3% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,855,148 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $27,716,000 after purchasing an additional 338,134 shares during the last quarter. 54.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Company Profile

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.