Two Harbors Investment (NYSE:TWO) Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Two Harbors Investment (NYSE:TWO) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Saturday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on TWO. UBS Group raised Two Harbors Investment from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their price target for the stock from $13.50 to $14.50 in a research note on Friday, June 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Two Harbors Investment from $12.50 to $13.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Janney Montgomery Scott initiated coverage on Two Harbors Investment in a research note on Friday, August 16th. They set a buy rating and a $15.00 price target for the company. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a market outperform rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of Two Harbors Investment in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $14.90.

Two Harbors Investment Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of TWO stock opened at $13.88 on Friday. Two Harbors Investment has a 1 year low of $9.83 and a 1 year high of $14.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $13.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.16. The company has a market cap of $1.44 billion, a PE ratio of 7.80 and a beta of 1.86.

Two Harbors Investment (NYSE:TWO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.15. Two Harbors Investment had a return on equity of 3.64% and a net margin of 27.71%. The business had revenue of $115.95 million for the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.04) earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Two Harbors Investment will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Two Harbors Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.97%. Two Harbors Investment’s payout ratio is currently 101.12%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,100 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Two Harbors Investment by 38.7% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,258 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $115,000 after buying an additional 2,306 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Two Harbors Investment in the 2nd quarter valued at about $144,000. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Two Harbors Investment in the 2nd quarter worth about $147,000. Finally, Legacy Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Two Harbors Investment in the 2nd quarter worth about $170,000. 64.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.