ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR) Short Interest Update

ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,620,000 shares, a growth of 29.8% from the February 28th total of 5,100,000 shares. Currently, 6.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,590,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of ARR traded up $0.08 on Monday, reaching $17.13. 2,490,945 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,624,794. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $18.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.06. ARMOUR Residential REIT has a 12 month low of $16.73 and a 12 month high of $21.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.37 billion, a P/E ratio of -39.84 and a beta of 1.53.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 16.81%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. ARMOUR Residential REIT’s payout ratio is -669.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Stewart J. Paperin sold 24,852 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.78, for a total transaction of $466,720.56. Following the transaction, the director now owns 363 shares in the company, valued at $6,817.14. This represents a 98.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert C. Hain sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.07, for a total transaction of $45,175.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $122,749.51. This represents a 26.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ARR. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in ARMOUR Residential REIT in the fourth quarter valued at about $19,865,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,046,157 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $114,031,000 after acquiring an additional 895,433 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 86.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,628,903 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,721,000 after acquiring an additional 754,582 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 486.7% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 814,009 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $15,352,000 after acquiring an additional 675,259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 1,204.2% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 350,145 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,604,000 after purchasing an additional 323,298 shares during the period. 54.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on ARR shares. B. Riley upgraded shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. BTIG Research began coverage on ARMOUR Residential REIT in a research note on Monday, February 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, StockNews.com cut ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ARMOUR Residential REIT currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.50.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Company Profile

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.