Legal & General Group Plc Boosts Holdings in ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR)

Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 147,686 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 2,999 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in ARMOUR Residential REIT were worth $2,785,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 35.2% in the fourth 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 during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 21,861 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $412,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 11,988 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 1,316 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its holdings in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 11,904 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $225,000 after buying an additional 1,481 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA purchased a new stake in ARMOUR Residential REIT during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARR has been the subject of a number of research reports. B. Riley upgraded shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. BTIG Research began coverage on ARMOUR Residential REIT in a research report on Monday, February 10th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.50.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Price Performance

Shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT stock opened at $14.86 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $17.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.36. The company has a market capitalization of $1.19 billion, a P/E ratio of -34.56 and a beta of 1.23. ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. has a 1 year low of $13.18 and a 1 year high of $21.93.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 19.38%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. ARMOUR Residential REIT’s payout ratio is currently -669.77%.

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.