Two Harbors Investment (NYSE:TWO) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Two Harbors Investment (NYSE:TWO) to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning.

Several other analysts have also commented on TWO. Compass Point decreased their price target on shares of Two Harbors Investment from $15.75 to $14.75 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Two Harbors Investment from $11.50 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $14.00 price objective on shares of Two Harbors Investment in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Two Harbors Investment from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.54.

Two Harbors Investment Price Performance

NYSE TWO opened at $12.57 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a PE ratio of -2.61 and a beta of 1.83. Two Harbors Investment has a 52-week low of $10.84 and a 52-week high of $14.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $11.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.67.

Two Harbors Investment (NYSE:TWO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.07). Two Harbors Investment had a negative net margin of 87.84% and a positive return on equity of 4.45%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Two Harbors Investment will post 0.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Two Harbors Investment Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 14.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. Two Harbors Investment’s payout ratio is currently -37.34%.

Insider Transactions at Two Harbors Investment

In related news, CIO Nicholas Letica sold 6,040 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.13, for a total transaction of $67,225.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now owns 174,672 shares in the company, valued at $1,944,099.36. This represents a 3.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Rebecca B. Sandberg sold 3,014 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.24, for a total transaction of $33,877.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 149,364 shares in the company, valued at $1,678,851.36. This represents a 1.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,754 shares of company stock valued at $333,307 in the last three months. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Two Harbors Investment

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in Two Harbors Investment by 1,680.0% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,225 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 2,100 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new position in shares of Two Harbors Investment in the third quarter worth about $64,000. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Two Harbors Investment by 86.5% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,635 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 3,077 shares in the last quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Two Harbors Investment during the third quarter worth about $134,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Two Harbors Investment in the 2nd quarter valued at about $147,000. 64.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Two Harbors Investment Company Profile

Two Harbors Investment Corp. invests in, finances, and manages mortgage servicing rights (MSRs), agency residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), and other financial assets through RoundPoint in the United States. The company target assets include agency RMBS collateralized by fixed rate mortgage loans, adjustable rate mortgage loans, hybrid mortgage loans, or derivatives; and other assets, such as financial and mortgage-related assets, including non-agency securities and non-hedging transactions.