ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Still a Buy?

Shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR) saw unusually-high trading volume on Monday . Approximately 1,324,629 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 11% from the previous session’s volume of 1,196,657 shares.The stock last traded at $18.72 and had previously closed at $18.81.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, B. Riley lifted their price target on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ARMOUR Residential REIT has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.83.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $19.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.81. The company has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.97 and a beta of 1.51.

ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.01. ARMOUR Residential REIT had a return on equity of 16.76% and a net margin of 24.17%. The company had revenue of $127.06 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.95 million. Equities analysts forecast that ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current year.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 15.32%. ARMOUR Residential REIT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 122.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Daniel C. Staton purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $19.86 per share, with a total value of $198,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chairman now directly owns 24,040 shares in the company, valued at $477,434.40. This trade represents a 71.23 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert C. Hain acquired 2,500 shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $19.08 per share, for a total transaction of $47,700.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 9,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $172,158.84. This represents a 38.33 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of ARMOUR Residential REIT

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new stake in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT during the first quarter valued at about $525,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC increased its position in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 76.3% during the second quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC now owns 138,140 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,677,000 after buying an additional 59,791 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 15.8% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 349,241 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,768,000 after buying an additional 47,735 shares during the last quarter. LifePro Asset Management lifted its holdings in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 34.7% in the third quarter. LifePro Asset Management now owns 141,426 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,885,000 after buying an additional 36,439 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 6.6% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 27,496 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $544,000 after acquiring an additional 1,707 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.17% of the company’s stock.

About ARMOUR Residential REIT

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.