ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR) Short Interest Update

ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 5,100,000 shares, a decrease of 20.3% from the February 13th total of 6,400,000 shares. Currently, 5.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,340,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Insider Activity at ARMOUR Residential REIT

In other news, Director Stewart J. Paperin sold 24,852 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.78, for a total transaction of $466,720.56. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 363 shares in the company, valued at $6,817.14. This represents a 98.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert C. Hain sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owns 6,793 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $122,749.51. This represents a 26.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of ARMOUR Residential REIT

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,904,000. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $322,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 2.1% during the third 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 period. Penserra Capital Management LLC boosted its position in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 22.9% during the third quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 51,525 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,051,000 after purchasing an additional 9,610 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 36.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,486 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $153,000 after purchasing an additional 2,003 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.17% of the company's stock.

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ARMOUR Residential REIT Stock Up 0.4 %

ARMOUR Residential REIT stock traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $18.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,373,179 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,517,934. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $18.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.22. ARMOUR Residential REIT has a 12 month low of $17.35 and a 12 month high of $21.93. The company has a market capitalization of $1.89 billion, a PE ratio of -43.73 and a beta of 1.53.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 15.32%. ARMOUR Residential REIT's payout ratio is presently -669.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on ARR shares. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a report on Monday, February 10th. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. B. Riley upgraded shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, ARMOUR Residential REIT has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $20.50.

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.