Van ECK Associates Corp Decreases Stock Position in ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. $ARR

Van ECK Associates Corp decreased its stake in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR) by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,013,368 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 34,780 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 0.72% of ARMOUR Residential REIT worth $17,683,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ARR. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 50.3% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 122,055 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,088,000 after buying an additional 40,860 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 26.1% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 14,393 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $246,000 after acquiring an additional 2,980 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 38.2% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 807,027 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $13,800,000 after purchasing an additional 222,923 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 189.5% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 92,237 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,577,000 after purchasing an additional 60,371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT during the 1st quarter worth $181,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.17% of the company’s stock.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Stock Performance

ARR opened at $16.32 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $16.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.05. ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. has a one year low of $13.98 and a one year high of $19.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.39 and a beta of 1.37.

ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72. The firm had revenue of $113.29 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.98 million. ARMOUR Residential REIT had a return on equity of 15.10% and a net margin of 44.90%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. will post 2.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 17.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. ARMOUR Residential REIT’s payout ratio is presently 77.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings lowered ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Zacks Research raised ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ARMOUR Residential REIT presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.50.

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.