Short Interest in ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR) Rises By 8.8%

ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,430,000 shares, an increase of 8.8% from the September 30th total of 4,070,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,210,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.7 days. Currently, 9.1% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ARR. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, B. Riley boosted their price target on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.83.

Insider Transactions at ARMOUR Residential REIT

In related news, Chairman Daniel C. Staton acquired 10,000 shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $19.86 per share, for a total transaction of $198,600.00. Following the acquisition, the chairman now owns 24,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $477,434.40. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ARMOUR Residential REIT

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 67.8% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,374 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT during the second quarter worth about $99,000. US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 304.3% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 6,720 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $137,000 after buying an additional 5,058 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new position in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT during the second quarter worth about $221,000. Finally, Creative Planning grew its position in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 19.7% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 14,057 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $287,000 after buying an additional 2,311 shares in the last quarter. 54.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ARR opened at $18.74 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a PE ratio of 7.94 and a beta of 1.50. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $20.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.74. ARMOUR Residential REIT has a 1 year low of $13.71 and a 1 year high of $21.93.

ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $127.06 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.95 million. ARMOUR Residential REIT had a negative net margin of 19.85% and a positive return on equity of 16.64%. Analysts expect that ARMOUR Residential REIT will post 3.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 15.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. ARMOUR Residential REIT’s dividend payout ratio is presently 122.03%.

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.