ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR) Stock Price Down 6.8% – Time to Sell?

ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR)’s stock price traded down 6.8% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $13.35 and last traded at $13.38. 2,152,233 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 22% from the average session volume of 2,776,678 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.36.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. B. Riley raised shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a research note on Monday, February 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ARMOUR Residential REIT has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.50.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Stock Up 3.7 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $18.24 and a 200-day moving average of $18.82. The company has a market cap of $1.19 billion, a P/E ratio of -34.54 and a beta of 1.23.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 19.34%. ARMOUR Residential REIT’s dividend payout ratio is currently -669.77%.

Insider Activity

In other ARMOUR Residential REIT news, Director Robert C. Hain sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.07, for a total value of $45,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,793 shares in the company, valued at $122,749.51. This trade represents a 26.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 452,486 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $9,231,000 after purchasing an additional 9,425 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 36.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,486 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $153,000 after purchasing an additional 2,003 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 171.1% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 27,480 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $561,000 after purchasing an additional 17,342 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 42.7% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 108,029 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,204,000 after purchasing an additional 32,351 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,807,864 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,880,000 after buying an additional 27,575 shares during the period. 54.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.