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

Shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $18.50.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ARR shares. JonesTrading cut their price target on ARMOUR Residential REIT from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings cut ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $18.00 price target (up from $17.50) on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research upgraded ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Independent Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in ARMOUR Residential REIT during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,458,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 2.0% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 543,935 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,073,000 after purchasing an additional 10,592 shares in the last quarter. Praxis Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in ARMOUR Residential REIT during the first quarter valued at approximately $175,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 9.5% during the first quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 67,245 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,122,000 after purchasing an additional 5,856 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 16.0% during the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 20,036 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 2,764 shares in the last quarter. 54.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of ARR stock opened at $17.62 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $2.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.18 and a beta of 1.39. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.34. ARMOUR Residential REIT has a 1 year low of $13.98 and a 1 year high of $19.31.

ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $70.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $155.79 million. ARMOUR Residential REIT had a return on equity of 15.39% and a net margin of 27.43%. Analysts forecast that ARMOUR Residential REIT will post 2.82 EPS for the current year.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 16.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. ARMOUR Residential REIT’s payout ratio is currently 150.00%.

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.