ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR) Raised to Buy at Jones Trading

ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR) was upgraded by stock analysts at Jones Trading from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $20.50 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Jones Trading’s price objective points to a potential upside of 8.91% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on ARR. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $16.00 price target on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Compass Point started coverage on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a report on Monday, December 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $18.50 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.33.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Trading Down 0.2%

ARMOUR Residential REIT stock opened at $18.82 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 470.58 and a beta of 1.44. ARMOUR Residential REIT has a twelve month low of $13.18 and a twelve month high of $19.25. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.33.

ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $210.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.25 million. ARMOUR Residential REIT had a return on equity of 15.37% and a net margin of 9.01%.During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.00 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that ARMOUR Residential REIT will post 3.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ARMOUR Residential REIT news, Director Robert C. Hain sold 6,833 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.06, for a total value of $123,403.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,010 shares in the company, valued at $18,240.60. This represents a 87.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of ARMOUR Residential REIT

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 35.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,995,105 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $179,207,000 after buying an additional 3,147,068 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 365.7% in the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,495,203 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $37,278,000 after acquiring an additional 1,959,447 shares during the period. Wolverine Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 570.6% during the third quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 848,724 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $12,680,000 after acquiring an additional 722,160 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its stake in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 115.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,109,852 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $16,581,000 after purchasing an additional 595,773 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 27.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,968,349 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,092,000 after purchasing an additional 426,536 shares during the last quarter. 54.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Company Profile

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.