ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR) Rating Lowered to “Strong Sell” at Zacks Research

ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on ARR. JonesTrading reduced their target price on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $18.00 price objective (up from $17.50) on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.50.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Stock Up 1.5%

ARMOUR Residential REIT stock opened at $16.79 on Monday. ARMOUR Residential REIT has a 12 month low of $13.98 and a 12 month high of $19.31. The stock has a market cap of $2.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.74 and a beta of 1.36. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.43.

ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.03. ARMOUR Residential REIT had a return on equity of 15.39% and a net margin of 27.43%.The business had revenue of $70.71 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $155.79 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that ARMOUR Residential REIT will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of ARMOUR Residential REIT

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 35.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,995,105 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $179,207,000 after purchasing an additional 3,147,068 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 191.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 215,416 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,218,000 after purchasing an additional 141,568 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 34.6% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 976,424 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $14,588,000 after purchasing an additional 250,879 shares in the last quarter. Almitas Capital LLC acquired a new position in ARMOUR Residential REIT in the third quarter valued at about $3,244,000. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL bought a new stake in ARMOUR Residential REIT during the third quarter worth about $1,280,000. 54.17% of the stock is currently 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.