Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New Investment in ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. $ARR

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 49,600 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $827,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 40,860 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 26.1% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 14,393 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $246,000 after purchasing an additional 2,980 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 worth $13,800,000 after purchasing an additional 222,923 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 189.5% during 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 during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new position in ARMOUR Residential REIT during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $181,000. 54.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ARR shares. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $18.00 price target (up from $17.50) on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a report on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, JonesTrading decreased 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 report on Thursday, April 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.50.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Price Performance

Shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT stock opened at $17.14 on Monday. ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. has a 1-year low of $13.98 and a 1-year high of $19.31. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $17.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.43. The company has a market capitalization of $2.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.93 and a beta of 1.36.

ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $70.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $155.79 million. ARMOUR Residential REIT had a return on equity of 15.39% and a net margin of 27.43%. On average, research analysts expect that ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 15th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 16.8%. ARMOUR Residential REIT’s dividend payout ratio is presently 150.00%.

ARMOUR Residential REIT 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.