U.S. home sales declined in 2022 and continued to cool down in the first half of 2023 due to high mortgage rates and low inventory. Housing prices have risen over the past two years and may continue to increase in 2024, but lower mortgage rates could spur more sales. Nuveen Mortgage and Income Fund, which invests in mortgage-backed securities, offers a high current income and may benefit from reduced inflation and an improving MBS landscape.
Nuveen Mortgage and Income Fund trades at a 14% discount and offers a 9.1% current yield. JLS has seen a 13% increase in net income, leading to steady distribution hikes. The fund's outperformance, rising net income, attractive valuation, and consecutive distribution hikes support holding JLS.
We take a look at JLS - a CEF that allocates primarily to mortgage and securitized assets. JLS has a significant allocation to higher-quality floating-rate assets, which aligns well with today's environment of inverted yield curve and tight credit spreads. JLS has outperformed the multi-sector CEF space since 2022 and has made three consecutive distribution hikes.