ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR) Shares Purchased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR) by 40.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 379,182 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 108,769 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.46% of ARMOUR Residential REIT worth $6,484,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its position in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 927.9% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,768 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 1,596 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 35.2% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,695 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 702 shares during the period. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in the fourth quarter valued at $75,000. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 15.3% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 5,869 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 777 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in ARMOUR Residential REIT during the 4th quarter worth $143,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.17% of the company’s stock.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Stock Down 0.3%

ARR stock opened at $16.49 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $16.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.28. The stock has a market cap of $1.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -47.10 and a beta of 1.36. ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $13.18 and a fifty-two week high of $21.93.

ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $75.29 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.59 million. ARMOUR Residential REIT had a negative net margin of 0.27% and a positive return on equity of 16.42%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. will post 3.8 EPS for the current year.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 17.47%. ARMOUR Residential REIT’s dividend payout ratio is presently -822.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ARR shares. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $16.00 price objective (up previously from $14.00) on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Jones Trading reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a report on Thursday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.50.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Company Profile

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.