Short Interest in ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR) Declines By 29.7%

ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 4,940,000 shares, a drop of 29.7% from the November 15th total of 7,030,000 shares. Approximately 8.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,560,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Insider Activity at ARMOUR Residential REIT

In other ARMOUR Residential REIT news, Director Robert C. Hain purchased 2,500 shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were bought 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 $172,158.84. This trade represents a 38.33 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Daniel C. Staton acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $19.86 per share, with a total value of $198,600.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 24,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $477,434.40. This trade represents a 71.23 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ARMOUR Residential REIT

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 67.8% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,374 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares during the period. McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new position in ARMOUR Residential REIT in the 3rd quarter valued at about $61,000. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT during the second quarter valued at about $99,000. US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 304.3% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 6,720 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $137,000 after acquiring an additional 5,058 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 36.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,486 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $153,000 after acquiring an additional 2,003 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ARR. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ARR traded down $0.07 during trading on Friday, reaching $19.38. 1,549,994 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,220,148. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $19.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.79. The firm has a market cap of $1.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.21 and a beta of 1.49. ARMOUR Residential REIT has a 12-month low of $17.35 and a 12-month high of $21.93.

ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $10.95 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that ARMOUR Residential REIT will post 3.91 EPS for the current year.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 14.86%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. ARMOUR Residential REIT’s dividend payout ratio is presently 122.03%.

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.