ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR) Short Interest Down 6.9% in August

ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,170,000 shares, a decline of 6.9% from the August 15th total of 4,480,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,070,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.9 days. Approximately 8.6% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ARR shares. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $20.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com cut ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. B. Riley increased their target price on ARMOUR Residential REIT from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.83.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ARMOUR Residential REIT

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 15.8% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 349,241 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,768,000 after acquiring an additional 47,735 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 338,652 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,563,000 after purchasing an additional 6,509 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 149,834 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,904,000 after purchasing an additional 6,088 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC grew its stake in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 76.3% during the 2nd quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC now owns 138,140 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,677,000 after buying an additional 59,791 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 107,251 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,079,000 after buying an additional 5,581 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.17% of the company’s stock.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Stock Performance

Shares of ARR opened at $20.91 on Friday. ARMOUR Residential REIT has a fifty-two week low of $13.31 and a fifty-two week high of $24.30. The company’s fifty day moving average is $20.48 and its 200 day moving average is $19.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a PE ratio of -29.04 and a beta of 1.50.

ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.09. ARMOUR Residential REIT had a negative net margin of 19.85% and a positive return on equity of 16.64%. The company had revenue of $129.93 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.47 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that ARMOUR Residential REIT will post 3.81 earnings per share for the current year.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 13.77%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. ARMOUR Residential REIT’s dividend payout ratio is -400.00%.

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.