ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR) Shares Sold by Graham Capital Management L.P.

Graham Capital Management L.P. lowered its stake in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR) by 13.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,963 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 6,816 shares during the period. Graham Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in ARMOUR Residential REIT were worth $810,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ARR. Private Trust Co. NA purchased a new position in ARMOUR Residential REIT during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 927.9% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,768 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,596 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 35.2% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,695 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 702 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its stake in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 117.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,465 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 1,874 shares during the period. Finally, C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. purchased a new position in ARMOUR Residential REIT during the fourth quarter worth approximately $75,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a research note on Monday, February 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Janney Montgomery Scott raised shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Jones Trading reissued a “hold” rating on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.50.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of ARR stock opened at $17.02 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.03. ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. has a 52 week low of $13.18 and a 52 week high of $21.93. The company has a market cap of $1.39 billion, a PE ratio of -39.58 and a beta of 1.36.

ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.05. ARMOUR Residential REIT had a negative net margin of 2.61% and a positive return on equity of 16.00%. The business had revenue of $75.29 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.59 million. Equities research analysts expect that ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. will post 3.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 16.92%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. ARMOUR Residential REIT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -822.86%.

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.