First Trust Advisors LP Buys 465,733 Shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. $ARR

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR) by 234.6% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 664,247 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 465,733 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in ARMOUR Residential REIT were worth $11,080,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,920,206 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $69,348,000 after buying an additional 53,570 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 365.7% during the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,495,203 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $37,278,000 after acquiring an additional 1,959,447 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 22.3% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,855,148 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $27,716,000 after acquiring an additional 338,134 shares during the period. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,154,875 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $20,430,000 after acquiring an additional 45,023 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 29.4% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,149,610 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $17,175,000 after acquiring an additional 261,315 shares during the last quarter. 54.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Stock Up 0.1%

ARR opened at $16.46 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 1.36. ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. has a 12 month low of $13.98 and a 12 month high of $19.31. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.30.

ARMOUR Residential REIT (NYSE:ARR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.72. ARMOUR Residential REIT had a return on equity of 15.10% and a net margin of 44.90%.The firm had revenue of $113.29 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.98 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 17.5%. ARMOUR Residential REIT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on ARR. JonesTrading lowered their price objective on ARMOUR Residential REIT from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $18.00 target price (up from $17.50) on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research raised shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.50.

About ARMOUR Residential REIT

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.