ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR) Shares Cross Above 200 Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR) shares crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $17.28 and traded as high as $17.61. ARMOUR Residential REIT shares last traded at $17.5150, with a volume of 2,940,762 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ARR shares. Zacks Research raised shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. JonesTrading lowered 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. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $18.00 target price (up from $17.50) on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.50.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.24 and a beta of 1.39. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.28.

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

ARMOUR Residential REIT Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 16.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. ARMOUR Residential REIT’s dividend payout ratio is presently 150.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wolverine Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 570.6% in the third quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 848,724 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $12,680,000 after buying an additional 722,160 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 35.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,995,105 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $179,207,000 after buying an additional 3,147,068 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 34.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 543,434 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,119,000 after buying an additional 138,039 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 191.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 215,416 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,218,000 after buying an additional 141,568 shares during the period. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,037,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.17% of the company’s stock.

About ARMOUR Residential REIT

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.