Two Harbors Investments (NYSE:TWO) Trading Down 8% – Here’s Why

Two Harbors Investments Corp (NYSE:TWO) traded down 8% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $9.89 and last traded at $9.8270. 604,289 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 3,095,175 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.68.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TWO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Two Harbors Investments in a report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research lowered Two Harbors Investments from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Maxim Group lowered shares of Two Harbors Investments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Two Harbors Investments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of Two Harbors Investments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $11.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $12.88.

Two Harbors Investments Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.98 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. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $11.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $10.53.

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

Two Harbors Investments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 5th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 14.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 5th. Two Harbors Investments’s payout ratio is currently -27.81%.

Insider Transactions at Two Harbors Investments

In other Two Harbors Investments news, insider Alecia Hanson sold 10,768 shares of Two Harbors Investments stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.41, for a total transaction of $122,862.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 45,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $516,736.08. The trade was a 19.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Robert Rush sold 23,594 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.43, for a total value of $269,679.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 98,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,122,506.01. This represents a 19.37% 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 valued at $1,483,046 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Two Harbors Investments

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TWO. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Two Harbors Investments during the 1st quarter worth about $344,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Two Harbors Investments by 10.6% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,206,549 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $16,119,000 after purchasing an additional 115,698 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Two Harbors Investments by 24.6% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 144,670 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,933,000 after purchasing an additional 28,535 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Two Harbors Investments by 54.4% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 91,847 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,227,000 after buying an additional 32,361 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC raised its stake in Two Harbors Investments by 240.4% in the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 3,370 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 2,380 shares in the last quarter. 64.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.