ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. Declares Monthly Dividend of $0.24 (NYSE:ARR)

ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR) declared a monthly dividend on Wednesday, November 27th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of 0.24 per share by the real estate investment trust on Monday, December 30th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 15.23%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th.

ARMOUR Residential REIT has a payout ratio of 69.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect ARMOUR Residential REIT to earn $4.00 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.88 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 72.0%.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ARR traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $18.91. 730,814 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,208,467. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.77. ARMOUR Residential REIT has a fifty-two week low of $17.35 and a fifty-two week high of $21.93. The stock has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.02 and a beta of 1.51.

ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.01. ARMOUR Residential REIT had a return on equity of 16.76% and a net margin of 24.17%. The company had revenue of $127.06 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.95 million. Equities research analysts predict that ARMOUR Residential REIT will post 3.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at ARMOUR Residential REIT

In other news, Chairman Daniel C. Staton bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 3rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $19.86 per share, for a total transaction of $198,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 24,040 shares in the company, valued at $477,434.40. This trade represents a 71.23 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert C. Hain bought 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $19.08 per share, with a total value of $47,700.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 9,023 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $172,158.84. This trade represents a 38.33 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ARR shares. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. StockNews.com upgraded ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.83.

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.