Two Harbors Investment Corp. (NYSE:TWO) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Two Harbors Investment Corp. (NYSE:TWO) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $13.96.

TWO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Compass Point decreased their price objective on Two Harbors Investment from $15.75 to $14.75 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Two Harbors Investment from $11.00 to $12.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $14.00 price target on shares of Two Harbors Investment in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Two Harbors Investment from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Two Harbors Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th.

Two Harbors Investment Trading Down 0.3 %

TWO opened at $13.84 on Friday. Two Harbors Investment has a one year low of $10.84 and a one year high of $14.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.44 billion, a PE ratio of 6.56 and a beta of 1.86. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $13.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Two Harbors Investment (NYSE:TWO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.07). Two Harbors Investment had a net margin of 66.24% and a return on equity of 6.52%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Two Harbors Investment will post 0.81 EPS for the current year.

Two Harbors Investment Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 13.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. Two Harbors Investment’s payout ratio is currently 85.31%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Rebecca B. Sandberg sold 2,561 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.96, for a total value of $33,190.56. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 146,803 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,902,566.88. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CIO Nicholas Letica sold 6,040 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.13, for a total value of $67,225.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now directly owns 174,672 shares in the company, valued at $1,944,099.36. This trade represents a 3.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 33,136 shares of company stock worth $377,154. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Two Harbors Investment

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of TWO. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Two Harbors Investment by 818.5% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 3,325 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 2,963 shares during the last quarter. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in Two Harbors Investment in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new position in Two Harbors Investment in the third quarter valued at $64,000. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Two Harbors Investment by 86.5% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,635 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 3,077 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wolverine Trading LLC increased its holdings in Two Harbors Investment by 866.3% in the fourth quarter. Wolverine Trading LLC now owns 10,533 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $122,000 after buying an additional 9,443 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.19% of the company’s stock.

Two Harbors Investment Company Profile

Two Harbors Investment Corp. invests in, finances, and manages mortgage servicing rights (MSRs), agency residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), and other financial assets through RoundPoint in the United States. The company target assets include agency RMBS collateralized by fixed rate mortgage loans, adjustable rate mortgage loans, hybrid mortgage loans, or derivatives; and other assets, such as financial and mortgage-related assets, including non-agency securities and non-hedging transactions.