Two Harbors Investments Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:TWO)

Two Harbors Investments Corp (NYSE:TWO) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders acquired 6,225 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 509% compared to the average volume of 1,023 put options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Two Harbors Investments by 34.5% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,825 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 981 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank boosted its stake in shares of Two Harbors Investments by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 30,604 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $302,000 after acquiring an additional 1,158 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Two Harbors Investments by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 85,985 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $849,000 after acquiring an additional 1,202 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Two Harbors Investments by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,391 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $129,000 after acquiring an additional 1,261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Two Harbors Investments by 11.1% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 13,130 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $142,000 after acquiring an additional 1,309 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.19% of the company’s stock.

Two Harbors Investments Price Performance

Two Harbors Investments stock traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $11.40. 484,790 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,756,697. Two Harbors Investments has a 1-year low of $8.78 and a 1-year high of $14.17. The firm has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.33 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $10.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Two Harbors Investments (NYSE:TWO) last issued its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $182.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of ($15.44) million. Two Harbors Investments had a negative net margin of 109.90% and a positive return on equity of 12.00%. As a group, analysts forecast that Two Harbors Investments will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Two Harbors Investments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.9%. Two Harbors Investments’s dividend payout ratio is currently -27.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.