Two Harbors Investments (NYSE:TWO) Trading Up 6.1% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Two Harbors Investments Corp (NYSE:TWO) traded up 6.1% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $9.63 and last traded at $9.6940. 718,216 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 3,258,582 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.14.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group lowered Two Harbors Investments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $11.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Two Harbors Investments from $13.50 to $12.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Two Harbors Investments in a report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research cut shares of Two Harbors Investments from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Maxim Group cut Two Harbors Investments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $12.88.

Two Harbors Investments Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.49. The stock has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.00 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

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

Two Harbors Investments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 29th. Investors of record on Monday, January 5th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 5th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.9%. Two Harbors Investments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -27.81%.

Insider Transactions at Two Harbors Investments

In related news, insider Alecia Hanson sold 10,768 shares of the company’s 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 owned 45,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $516,736.08. This represents a 19.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO William Dellal sold 7,087 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.44, for a total value of $81,075.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 36,703 shares in the company, valued at approximately $419,882.32. This represents a 16.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 129,389 shares of company stock valued at $1,483,046. 0.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Two Harbors Investments

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV bought a new position in shares of Two Harbors Investments in the fourth quarter worth approximately $130,000. XTX Topco Ltd increased its stake in Two Harbors Investments by 786.2% in the 4th quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 131,618 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,382,000 after purchasing an additional 116,766 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank bought a new stake in Two Harbors Investments during the 4th quarter valued at $634,000. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new stake in shares of Two Harbors Investments during the fourth quarter worth about $121,000. Finally, Man Group plc bought a new stake in Two Harbors Investments in the fourth quarter valued at $1,916,000. 64.19% of the stock is currently owned by 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.