Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stake in ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR) by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 229,875 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 10,636 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.41% of ARMOUR Residential REIT worth $4,689,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 67.8% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,374 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 555 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 5.4% in the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 28,941 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $590,000 after purchasing an additional 1,490 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 7.8% during the third quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 20,858 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,513 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 36.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,486 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $153,000 after buying an additional 2,003 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 19.7% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 14,057 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $287,000 after buying an additional 2,311 shares in the last quarter. 54.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com raised ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Price Performance

Shares of ARR stock opened at $18.97 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $18.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.04 and a beta of 1.49. ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.35 and a 12 month high of $21.93.

ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.00 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 firm had revenue of $127.06 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.95 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. will post 3.91 EPS for the current year.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 15.18%. ARMOUR Residential REIT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 122.03%.

Insider Activity at ARMOUR Residential REIT

In other news, Director Robert C. Hain acquired 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $19.08 per share, with a total value of $47,700.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 9,023 shares in the company, valued at $172,158.84. This represents a 38.33 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.