Bank of New York Mellon Corp Boosts Stake in ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. (NYSE:ARR) by 7.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 317,385 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,563 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in ARMOUR Residential REIT were worth $5,986,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in ARMOUR Residential REIT by 1.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,807,864 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,880,000 after buying an additional 27,575 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,148,151 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $23,427,000 after purchasing an additional 9,519 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 452,486 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,231,000 after purchasing an additional 9,425 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 36.7% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 449,871 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,485,000 after purchasing an additional 120,718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 270,413 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,100,000 after purchasing an additional 40,538 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.17% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ARMOUR Residential REIT news, Director Stewart J. Paperin sold 24,852 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.78, for a total transaction of $466,720.56. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,817.14. This trade represents a 98.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert C. Hain sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.07, for a total value of $45,175.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,793 shares in the company, valued at $122,749.51. This represents a 26.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.35% of the stock is owned by insiders.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Price Performance

Shares of ARR stock opened at $18.81 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -43.75 and a beta of 1.53. The business has a fifty day moving average of $18.76 and a 200 day moving average of $19.24. ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.35 and a 1 year high of $21.93.

ARMOUR Residential REIT Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 15.31%. ARMOUR Residential REIT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -669.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on ARR. BTIG Research began coverage on ARMOUR Residential REIT in a report on Monday, February 10th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. B. Riley upgraded ARMOUR Residential REIT to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of ARMOUR Residential REIT in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered ARMOUR Residential REIT from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.50.

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.