Two Harbors Investment (NYSE:TWO) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold” Rating

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

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on TWO. Compass Point dropped their price target on shares of Two Harbors Investment from $15.75 to $14.75 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 25th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $14.00 target price on shares of Two Harbors Investment in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Two Harbors Investment from $11.00 to $12.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Two Harbors Investment from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.79.

Two Harbors Investment Stock Performance

TWO stock opened at $12.82 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $11.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. Two Harbors Investment has a 12-month low of $10.84 and a 12-month high of $14.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.33 billion, a PE ratio of 6.07 and a beta of 1.84.

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 net margin of 66.24% and a return on equity of 6.52%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Two Harbors Investment will post 0.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Two Harbors Investment Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 14.05%. Two Harbors Investment’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.31%.

Insider Activity at Two Harbors Investment

In related news, CIO Nicholas Letica sold 5,737 shares of Two Harbors Investment stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.28, for a total transaction of $64,713.36. Following the transaction, the executive now owns 168,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,905,586.80. The trade was a 3.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Rebecca B. Sandberg sold 3,785 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.14, for a total value of $42,164.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 152,378 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,697,490.92. The trade was a 2.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 29,754 shares of company stock worth $333,307. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Phocas Financial Corp. bought a new position in Two Harbors Investment during the third quarter valued at $3,505,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Two Harbors Investment by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,440,820 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,885,000 after buying an additional 48,264 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Two Harbors Investment by 346.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 172,557 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,395,000 after buying an additional 133,869 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Two Harbors Investment by 1,392.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 193,478 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,685,000 after acquiring an additional 180,516 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Two Harbors Investment during the third quarter worth approximately $217,000. 64.19% of the stock is 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.