ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR) Short Interest Up 7.7% in June

ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR) was the target of a large increase in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,790,000 shares, an increase of 7.7% from the May 31st total of 3,520,000 shares. Approximately 7.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 992,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.8 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on ARR shares. StockNews.com cut shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Janney Montgomery Scott started 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 for the company. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, ARMOUR Residential REIT currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.50.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Stock Performance

Shares of ARR opened at $19.46 on Thursday. ARMOUR Residential REIT has a fifty-two week low of $13.31 and a fifty-two week high of $26.90. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $19.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.16.

ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $141.48 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.60 million. ARMOUR Residential REIT had a negative net margin of 3.83% and a positive return on equity of 15.68%. Equities analysts expect that ARMOUR Residential REIT will post 3.62 earnings per share for the current year.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 14.80%. ARMOUR Residential REIT’s payout ratio is -399.99%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ARMOUR Residential REIT

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 18.5% during the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 660,713 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,808,000 after buying an additional 103,248 shares during the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC bought a new stake in ARMOUR Residential REIT during the 3rd quarter valued at $779,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its holdings in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 65.5% during the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 61,174 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $260,000 after buying an additional 24,200 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 153.1% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 628,499 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,671,000 after buying an additional 380,225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,968,254 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $106,115,000 after buying an additional 3,550,122 shares during the last quarter. 54.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.