Short Interest in ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR) Expands By 16.1%

ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,460,000 shares, a growth of 16.1% from the March 31st total of 3,840,000 shares. Currently, 9.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,140,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.9 days.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Price Performance

ARMOUR Residential REIT stock opened at $18.17 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $18.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.43. ARMOUR Residential REIT has a one year low of $13.31 and a one year high of $27.00. The firm has a market cap of $885.79 million, a PE ratio of -25.24 and a beta of 1.48.

ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.22. ARMOUR Residential REIT had a positive return on equity of 15.68% and a negative net margin of 3.83%. The firm had revenue of $141.48 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.60 million. Sell-side analysts expect that ARMOUR Residential REIT will post 3.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 15.85%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. ARMOUR Residential REIT’s dividend payout ratio is presently -399.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ARR. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com lowered ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ARMOUR Residential REIT

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of ARR. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,968,254 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $106,115,000 after purchasing an additional 3,550,122 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 93.5% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,011,244 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $29,798,000 after acquiring an additional 3,387,825 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 2,118.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,008,944 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,538,000 after acquiring an additional 1,918,406 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 153.1% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 628,499 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,671,000 after acquiring an additional 380,225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT during the 4th quarter valued at $6,913,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.17% of the company’s stock.

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.