Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 1,937,070 Shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. $ARR

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 32% during the first quarter, owning approximately 9.77% of the company worth $136.51 million.
• Research analysts have given ARMOUR Residential REIT an average rating of "Hold" with a target price of $16.00, with one analyst rating the stock as a Buy.
• ARMOUR Residential REIT reported earnings of $0.77 per share for the last quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.81, while also announcing a hefty dividend of $0.24 per share.

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR - Free Report) by 32.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,983,227 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 1,937,070 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 9.77% of ARMOUR Residential REIT worth $136,513,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 927.9% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 35.2% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,695 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 702 shares in the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 15.3% during the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 5,869 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $111,000 after acquiring an additional 777 shares in the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $143,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 56.2% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 8,875 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $152,000 after acquiring an additional 3,194 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.17% of the company's stock.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:ARR traded up $0.09 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $15.12. The stock had a trading volume of 1,433,358 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,008,279. ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. has a 52 week low of $13.18 and a 52 week high of $21.08. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -62.85 and a beta of 1.38.

ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.81 by ($0.04). ARMOUR Residential REIT had a negative net margin of 4.55% and a positive return on equity of 15.89%. The firm had revenue of $84.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $52.77 million. On average, analysts forecast that ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. will post 3.8 EPS for the current year.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a aug 25 dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a dividend yield of 1,720.0%. ARMOUR Residential REIT's dividend payout ratio is -1,200.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on ARR. Janney Montgomery Scott raised shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $16.00 target price (up from $14.00) on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a report on Thursday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $16.00.

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.