M&A Monday • Special Dividends • European Lockdowns

December 21, 2020 | Hoya Capital

M&A Monday • Special Dividends • European Lockdowns Daily Recap Dec 21 Written By Summary U.S. equity markets finished mostly lower Monday as the apparent success in reaching a long-awaited stimulus deal was offset by concerns over harsh new lockdown measures in Europe. Coming off gains of 0.6% last week, the S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 each finished lower by 0.4% today, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 37 points.

Real estate equities were mostly lower on the day despite a flurry of dividend and M&A news. Equity REITs finished lower by 0.6% today 15-of-18 property sectors in negative territory. M&A Monday: We saw some M&A news in the industrial REIT sector today as Monmouth (MNR) received an unsolicited offer to acquire the firm by Blackwells Capital. MNR had rallied over the past three weeks before news was publicly reported.

Two more mortgage REITs - PennyMac Mortgage (PMT) and Hunt Companies (HCFT) increased their quarterly dividends. Granite Point Mortgage (GPMT) declared a special dividend. Just two mREITs, however, will pay higher a dividend in full-year 2020 than 2019. Real Estate Daily Recap U.S. equity markets finished lower Monday, but well above their intra-day lows as the apparent success in reaching a long-awaited stimulus deal was offset by concerns over harsh new lockdown measures in Europe.

Coming off gains of 0.6% last week, the S&P 500 ETF ( SPY ) and tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 ( QQQ ) each finished lower by 0.4% today, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average ( DIA ) gained 37 points. Real estate equities were mostly lower on the day despite a flurry of dividend and M&A news as the broad-based Equity REIT ETF ( VNQ ) finished lower by 0.6% today with 15 of 18 property sectors in negative territory.

Mortgage REITs ( REM ) declined by 0.5% on the day. As discussed in our Real Estate Weekly Outlook , investors are closely monitoring ...