Mortgage REITs jump amid broad market bounce
07/04/2020 15:35
** Mortgage REITs jump Tues as Wall Street surges on early
signs of the coronavirus slowing down in hot spots .N
** Dow Jones Mortgage REIT index .DJUSMR advancing ~9% and
the iShares Mortgage Real Estate ETF REM.N rising 10%. Both
adding to gains on Mon of ~10% and 11%, respectively
** mREITs have been roiled by wild price swings and margin
calls, forcing them to sell assets and/or slash their dividends
due to bond market volatility created by COVID-19 pandemic
** Two Harbors Investment Corp TWO.O jumps >30% after co
late Mon said will pay interim stock dividend of 5 cents/sh on
Apr 29; co on Mar 24 had suspended Q1 dividends on common and
preferred stocks to conserve cash urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nBw9W91JSa
** TWO also said it had $1.2 bln in unrestricted cash at
end-Mar following sale of nearly all non-agency MBS
** TPG RE Finance Trust TRTX.N up 25% after co late Mon
said sold nearly all of its commercial real estate (CRE) debt
portfolio, other than bonds rated AAA; co has hired Houlihan
Lokey Inc HLI.N to explore financing and strategic
alternatives urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nBw8rLVPXa
** On negative note, Chimera Investment Corp CIM.N tumbles
16% as co plans $250 mln convertible debt offering, dividend cut
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2BV0KE
** Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-07/oaktree-elliott-among-bargain-hunters-circling-mortgage-trusts?utm_source=google&utm_medium=bd&cmpId=google
hedge funds, opportunistic investors are circling mREITS for
bargains
(Reporting by Lance Tupper)
((lance.tupper.tr.com@reuters.net
lance.tupper@tr.com 646-223-5017))