Two Harbors Investments Corp (NYSE:TWO) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Two Harbors Investments Corp (NYSE:TWO) saw a significant decline in short interest during the month of August. As of August 14th, there was short interest totaling 2,920,018 shares, a decline of 32.8% from the July 30th total of 4,343,914 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 4,298,436 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.7 days. Currently, 2.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Two Harbors Investments

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Two Harbors Investments in the first quarter worth about $344,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Two Harbors Investments by 10.6% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,206,549 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $16,119,000 after buying an additional 115,698 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 28,535 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Two Harbors Investments by 54.4% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 91,847 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,227,000 after buying an additional 32,361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Two Harbors Investments in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $955,000. 64.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Two Harbors Investments Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TWO opened at $12.18 on Thursday. Two Harbors Investments has a 12-month low of $11.98 and a 12-month high of $12.19. The company has a market cap of $1.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.46 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $12.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.64.

Two Harbors Investments (NYSE:TWO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28. Two Harbors Investments had a negative net margin of 6.09% and a positive return on equity of 12.79%. The business had revenue of $247.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.45 million. Research analysts anticipate that Two Harbors Investments will post 0.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Two Harbors Investments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 2nd. Two Harbors Investments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -64.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TWO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Two Harbors Investments from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. BTIG Research restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Two Harbors Investments in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Two Harbors Investments from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Compass Point reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 price target on shares of Two Harbors Investments in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Two Harbors Investments from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.75.

About Two Harbors Investments

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.