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

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.

TWO has been the topic of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Two Harbors Investment from $11.00 to $12.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $14.00 target price on shares of Two Harbors Investment in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Two Harbors Investment from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Compass Point decreased their price objective on shares of Two Harbors Investment from $15.75 to $14.75 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.79.

Two Harbors Investment Price Performance

Shares of TWO opened at $12.90 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.63. Two Harbors Investment has a fifty-two week low of $10.84 and a fifty-two week high of $14.27. The stock has a market cap of $1.34 billion, a PE ratio of 6.11 and a beta of 1.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Two Harbors Investment (NYSE:TWO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.07). Two Harbors Investment had a return on equity of 6.52% and a net margin of 66.24%. Analysts anticipate that Two Harbors Investment will post 0.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Two Harbors Investment Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. 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 13.96%. Two Harbors Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Two Harbors Investment news, insider Rebecca B. Sandberg sold 3,014 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.24, for a total value of $33,877.36. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 149,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,678,851.36. This trade represents a 1.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CIO Nicholas Letica sold 5,737 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.28, for a total value of $64,713.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now directly owns 168,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,905,586.80. This represents a 3.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 29,754 shares of company stock valued at $333,307. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Two Harbors Investment

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TWO. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Two Harbors Investment during the second quarter worth about $147,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Two Harbors Investment by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 51,242 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $677,000 after purchasing an additional 2,241 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in Two Harbors Investment by 1,680.0% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,225 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 2,100 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in Two Harbors Investment by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 31,149 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $432,000 after purchasing an additional 3,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LifePro Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of Two Harbors Investment by 30.9% in the third quarter. LifePro Asset Management now owns 201,792 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,801,000 after buying an additional 47,689 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.19% of the company’s stock.

About Two Harbors Investment

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.