ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR) Hits New 52-Week Low – Time to Sell?

Shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday. The company traded as low as $11.83 and last traded at $12.0050, with a volume of 627,742 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.15.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on ARR. Zacks Research raised ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. B. Riley Financial decreased their target price on ARMOUR Residential REIT from $18.00 to $14.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, JonesTrading cut their price target on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT from $19.00 to $15.25 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.56.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Stock Down 1.1%

The company has a market cap of $1.78 billion, a P/E ratio of -399.17 and a beta of 1.47. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $13.81 and a 200-day moving average of $16.27.

ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71. ARMOUR Residential REIT had a positive return on equity of 15.90% and a negative net margin of 5.09%. The business had revenue of $121.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $119.84 million. On average, research analysts predict that ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. will post 2.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 27th. Investors of record on Monday, November 16th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 16th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 24.0%. ARMOUR Residential REIT’s dividend payout ratio is -9,600.00%.

Insider Transactions at ARMOUR Residential REIT

In other ARMOUR Residential REIT news, Chairman Daniel Staton sold 35,583 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.86, for a total transaction of $564,346.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ARMOUR Residential REIT

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of ARR. Independent Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in ARMOUR Residential REIT during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,458,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in ARMOUR Residential REIT during the second quarter worth $6,536,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 234.6% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 664,247 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $11,080,000 after buying an additional 465,733 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in ARMOUR Residential REIT during the second quarter worth $13,757,000. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 15.0% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,745,078 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $82,802,000 after buying an additional 619,020 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 54.17% of the company’s stock.

About ARMOUR Residential REIT

ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. is a real estate investment trust focused on the U.S. residential mortgage market. The company primarily invests in agency mortgage-backed securities, which are backed by residential mortgage loans and guaranteed or issued by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or Ginnie Mae. Its portfolio may include mortgage securities with fixed, adjustable or hybrid interest rates. ARMOUR also uses financing arrangements and hedging instruments to manage interest-rate and other investment risks.