Chimera Investment Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:CIM)

Chimera Investment Co. (NYSE:CIM) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders bought 6,302 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 682% compared to the average volume of 806 call options.

Chimera Investment Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CIM traded down $0.13 on Monday, hitting $16.52. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 127,169 shares, compared to its average volume of 620,904. The company has a market capitalization of $1.33 billion, a PE ratio of 10.88 and a beta of 1.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.75, a current ratio of 4.43 and a quick ratio of 4.43. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.87. Chimera Investment has a 1 year low of $11.28 and a 1 year high of $17.55.

Chimera Investment (NYSE:CIM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $186.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $66.50 million. Chimera Investment had a net margin of 28.79% and a return on equity of 7.66%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.36 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Chimera Investment will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chimera Investment Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This is a positive change from Chimera Investment’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.96%. Chimera Investment’s dividend payout ratio is 91.50%.

Institutional Trading of Chimera Investment

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in Chimera Investment by 23.0% during the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 16,421 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 3,066 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Chimera Investment by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,478,859 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $12,370,000 after purchasing an additional 78,731 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Chimera Investment during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in Chimera Investment by 243.9% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 77,115 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $385,000 after purchasing an additional 54,689 shares during the period. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in Chimera Investment by 31.8% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 41,031 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $205,000 after purchasing an additional 9,898 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 48.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CIM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Chimera Investment from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Chimera Investment from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th.

Chimera Investment Company Profile

Chimera Investment Corporation operates as a real estate investment trust (REIT) in the United States. The company, through its subsidiaries, invests in a portfolio of mortgage assets, including residential mortgage loans, agency residential mortgage-backed securities, non-agency residential mortgage-backed securities, agency mortgage-backed securities secured by pools of commercial mortgage loans, business purpose and investor loans, and other real estate related securities.