ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR) Upgraded by Janney Montgomery Scott to “Buy” Rating

ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR) was upgraded by equities researchers at Janney Montgomery Scott from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, MarketBeat reports.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on ARR. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. BTIG Research began coverage on ARMOUR Residential REIT in a research report on Monday, February 10th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Jones Trading reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, B. Riley upgraded shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, ARMOUR Residential REIT has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.50.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT stock opened at $16.65 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a P/E ratio of -38.72 and a beta of 1.23. ARMOUR Residential REIT has a 52 week low of $13.18 and a 52 week high of $21.93. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $16.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.25.

ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.05. ARMOUR Residential REIT had a negative net margin of 2.61% and a positive return on equity of 16.00%. The firm had revenue of $75.29 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.59 million. As a group, research analysts expect that ARMOUR Residential REIT will post 3.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Barclays PLC grew its position in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 300.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 124,470 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,539,000 after buying an additional 93,397 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 70.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 70,970 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,448,000 after acquiring an additional 29,306 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,619,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT during the fourth quarter worth about $419,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 36.7% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 449,871 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,485,000 after purchasing an additional 120,718 shares in 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.