Van ECK Associates Corp Grows Holdings in ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. $ARR

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR) by 34.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 976,424 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 250,879 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in ARMOUR Residential REIT were worth $14,588,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 35.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,995,105 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $179,207,000 after acquiring an additional 3,147,068 shares in the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 570.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 848,724 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $12,680,000 after acquiring an additional 722,160 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in the 2nd quarter worth about $9,006,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 27.7% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,968,349 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,092,000 after purchasing an additional 426,536 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,706,000. Institutional investors own 54.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at ARMOUR Residential REIT

In related news, Director Robert C. Hain sold 6,833 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.06, for a total transaction of $123,403.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,010 shares in the company, valued at $18,240.60. This represents a 87.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ARR shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. Zacks Research lowered ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Compass Point began coverage on ARMOUR Residential REIT in a report on Monday, December 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $18.50 price target for the company. Finally, JonesTrading dropped their price target on ARMOUR Residential REIT from $20.50 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.17.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ARR traded down $0.23 during trading on Friday, reaching $17.19. 1,009,741 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,747,641. ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. has a 12 month low of $13.18 and a 12 month high of $19.31. The company has a 50 day moving average of $18.05 and a 200-day moving average of $16.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.29 and a beta of 1.44.

ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.03). ARMOUR Residential REIT had a return on equity of 15.30% and a net margin of 40.31%.The business had revenue of $236.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $62.34 million. Equities research analysts predict that ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. will post 3.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 16.8%. ARMOUR Residential REIT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 105.49%.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Company Profile

ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR) is a mortgage real estate investment trust that was formed in 2008 to acquire and manage a portfolio of residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS). The company’s investments are primarily agency-sponsored and agency-guaranteed RMBS issued by U.S. government-sponsored enterprises, along with credit risk transfer securities and select non-agency residential and multifamily RMBS. By focusing on high-quality mortgage assets, ARMOUR Residential REIT seeks to generate stable income and preserve capital through diversified exposure to the U.S.