ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Time to Buy?

Shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR) saw an uptick in trading volume on Monday . 1,324,629 shares traded hands during 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 Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on ARR. B. Riley raised their price target on ARMOUR Residential REIT from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.83.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.97 and a beta of 1.51. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $19.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.81.

ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.01. ARMOUR Residential REIT had a net margin of 24.17% and a return on equity of 16.76%. The company had revenue of $127.06 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.95 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 15.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. ARMOUR Residential REIT’s dividend payout ratio is currently 122.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of ARMOUR Residential REIT

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ARR. McIlrath & Eck LLC bought a new stake in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT during the 3rd quarter valued at $61,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,148,151 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $23,427,000 after acquiring an additional 9,519 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 300.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 124,470 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,539,000 after acquiring an additional 93,397 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,807,864 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,880,000 after acquiring an additional 27,575 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallax Volatility Advisers L.P. lifted its holdings in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 49.4% in the third quarter. Parallax Volatility Advisers L.P. now owns 43,785 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $893,000 after acquiring an additional 14,485 shares during the last quarter. 54.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.