Two Harbors Investments (NYSE:TWO) Shares Down 4.9% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Two Harbors Investments Corp (NYSE:TWO) traded down 4.9% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $11.35 and last traded at $11.3550. 1,158,735 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 3,567,116 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.94.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Two Harbors Investments from $13.50 to $12.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group downgraded Two Harbors Investments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $11.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Two Harbors Investments in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research cut Two Harbors Investments from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Maxim Group cut Two Harbors Investments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $12.88.

Two Harbors Investments Trading Down 7.5%

The business has a 50 day moving average of $11.48 and a 200 day moving average of $10.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.26 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

Two Harbors Investments (NYSE:TWO) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $182.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of ($15.44) million. Two Harbors Investments had a positive return on equity of 12.00% and a negative net margin of 109.90%. As a group, research analysts predict that Two Harbors Investments Corp will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Two Harbors Investments Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 5th were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 5th. Two Harbors Investments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -27.81%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Rebecca B. Sandberg sold 27,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.43, for a total transaction of $312,839.10. Following the sale, the insider owned 156,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,791,286.74. This trade represents a 14.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Alecia Hanson sold 10,768 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.41, for a total value of $122,862.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 45,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $516,736.08. This trade represents a 19.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 129,389 shares of company stock worth $1,483,046 over the last 90 days. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Two Harbors Investments

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Two Harbors Investments by 490.7% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,583,939 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,599,000 after purchasing an additional 2,977,196 shares in the last quarter. Algebris UK Ltd. acquired a new stake in Two Harbors Investments in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $17,558,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Two Harbors Investments by 45.3% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,535,534 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,766,000 after acquiring an additional 1,415,062 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Two Harbors Investments by 44.5% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,649,977 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $28,540,000 after acquiring an additional 815,931 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. bought a new position in shares of Two Harbors Investments during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,325,000. 64.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Two Harbors Investments Company Profile

Two Harbors Investments Corp. is a mortgage real estate investment trust (mREIT) that primarily invests in residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) issued or guaranteed by government-sponsored enterprises, as well as non-agency residential mortgage loans, mortgage servicing rights and credit risk transfer securities. The company seeks to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns for its shareholders by employing leverage to enhance net interest income derived from its portfolio of high-quality fixed-income assets.

Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Two Harbors operates through a self-managed platform that combines portfolio management, risk-management and securitization expertise.