The goal of dividend growth investing is to realize rising income over time. For this reason, we recommend dividend growth investors focus on stocks with long histories of increasing dividends each year.

However, there are times when income investors should consider selling a stock. Namely, if a company cuts its dividend, or goes a long period of time without raising its dividend.

The following 3 dividend stocks have displayed no dividend growth and/or have cut their dividends, making them potential sells for income investors.

ARMOUR Residential REIT (ARR)

ARMOUR Residential (ARR) is a mortgage REIT that was formed in 2008. The trust invests primarily in residential mortgage-backed securities that are guaranteed or issued by a United States government entity including Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae.

On April 23, 2025, ARMOUR Residential REIT reported its financial results for the first quarter of 2025. The company announced a GAAP net income available to common stockholders of $24.3 million, or $0.32 per common share. Distributable earnings, a non-GAAP measure, were $64.6 million, equating to $0.86 per common share.

Net interest income for the quarter stood at $36.3 million. The average interest income on interest-earning assets was 5.00%, while the interest cost on average interest-bearing liabilities was 4.51%, resulting in an economic net interest spread of 1.88%.

The company's book value per common share decreased to $18.59 from $19.07 at the end of 2024, and the total economic return for the quarter was 1.26%.

ARMOUR’s cash flow has been volatile since its inception in 2008, but this is to be expected with all mortgage REITs. Of late, declining spreads have hurt earnings. Moving forward, we expect the company to see earnings plummet in line with its historical pattern and we therefore expect additional dividend cuts in the future.

PermRock Royalty Trust (PRT)

PermRock Royalty Trust (PRT) is a trust formed in November 2017 by Boaz Energy, a company that is focused on the acquisition, development and operation of oil and natural gas properties in the Permian Basin. The trust derives all its cash flows from profits from the sale of oil and natural gas production from these properties.

The properties of PermRock consist of long-life reserves in mature, conventional oil fields, with shallow, predictable decline rates. The trust can pump additional oil via water-flooding techniques, while it can also identify new reserves in the area in the upcoming years.

On March 28th, 2025, PermRock Royalty reported full year 2024 results for the period ending December 31st, 2024. Net profits income received by the trust was $5.96 million, a significant decline compared to $7.13 million in 2023. The average realized sale price of oil declined by 1.2% year-over-year, while natural gas plummeted by 32%.

Distributable income for the trust came to $5.16 million, down 18% from $6.26 million in the prior year period and distributable income per unit of $0.42 was lower by nine cents from $0.51 in the prior year.

Significant increases in oil and natural gas sales prices led to blowout results in 2022 and 2023, which we believe will be a cyclical peak in the company’s results. The average realized sale price of oil ($/Bbl) was $75.33 during 2024, a 1.2% decrease. With WTI crude prices currently in the low $60-range, we expect distributions to remain weak.

Easterly Government Properties (DEA)

Easterly Government Properties is an internally managed REIT with a focus on acquisition, development and management of properties which are leased to U.S. Government agencies. Most of the trust’s properties are leased to U.S. government agencies such as the FBI, IRS, and DEA.

On April 29, 2025, Easterly Government Properties reported its financial results for the first quarter of 2025. The company achieved a net income of $3.3 million, or $0.07 per diluted share, and core funds from operations (Core FFO) of $33.1 million, equating to $0.73 per share. Cash available for distribution stood at $31.1 million. Total revenue for the quarter was $78.7 million, slightly below analyst expectations.

As of March 31, 2025, the company's portfolio comprised 100 operating properties totaling approximately 9.7 million leased square feet, with a weighted average remaining lease term of 9.8 years.

We expect Easterly to grow at 0.9% annually over the next half decade, which gives us a 2030 FFO/S target of $3.12 and a 5-year price target of ~$25. To generate growth, Easterly will need to continue to accretively acquire new properties, which will be increasingly difficult given high interest rates and DEA’s share price weakness.

Easterly implemented a 1-for-2.5 reverse stock split and reduced its quarterly dividend to $0.45 per share, effective April 28, 2025. Due to the recent dividend cut, we rate it a Sell.

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Bob Ciura has worked at Sure Dividend since October 2016. He oversees all content for Sure Dividend and its partner sites. Bob received a Bachelor’s degree in Finance from DePaul.