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

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR - Free Report) by 40.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 379,182 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 108,769 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.46% of ARMOUR Residential REIT worth $6,484,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its holdings in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 32.8% during the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 17,418 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $298,000 after buying an additional 4,300 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 55,613 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $951,000 after acquiring an additional 4,200 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank raised its holdings in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 31.1% in the 1st quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 21,124 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $361,000 after acquiring an additional 5,008 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 13.8% in the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 28,385 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $485,000 after acquiring an additional 3,453 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in the 1st quarter valued at about $573,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.17% of the company's stock.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Stock Performance

Shares of ARR stock traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $16.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,776,966 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,146,499. ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. has a 52-week low of $13.18 and a 52-week high of $21.79. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $16.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.26. The stock has a market cap of $1.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -47.09 and a beta of 1.36.

ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.05. ARMOUR Residential REIT had a positive return on equity of 16.42% and a negative net margin of 0.27%. The company had revenue of $75.29 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.59 million. Equities research analysts predict that ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. will post 3.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 17.48%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. ARMOUR Residential REIT's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -822.86%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Janney Montgomery Scott raised ARMOUR Residential REIT from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $16.00 price target (up from $14.00) on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Jones Trading restated a "hold" rating on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $18.50.

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.