Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Holdings in Two Harbors Investment Corp. (NYSE:TWO)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in Two Harbors Investment Corp. (NYSE:TWO) by 4.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 488,504 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 22,044 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.47% of Two Harbors Investment worth $6,780,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Two Harbors Investment by 1,680.0% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,225 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 2,100 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC acquired a new position in Two Harbors Investment during the third quarter worth about $64,000. Simplify Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Two Harbors Investment in the third quarter valued at about $134,000. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Two Harbors Investment during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $147,000. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Two Harbors Investment by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $168,000 after acquiring an additional 1,230 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.19% of the company’s stock.

Two Harbors Investment Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of TWO stock opened at $11.83 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Two Harbors Investment Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $11.28 and a fifty-two week high of $14.27. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $11.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.88. The stock has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.45 and a beta of 1.85.

Two Harbors Investment (NYSE:TWO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.22). Two Harbors Investment had a positive return on equity of 4.45% and a negative net margin of 87.84%. The business had revenue of $112.64 million for the quarter. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.01) earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Two Harbors Investment Corp. will post 0.47 EPS for the current year.

Two Harbors Investment Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 15.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. Two Harbors Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -37.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Two Harbors Investment from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Two Harbors Investment from $13.50 to $11.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Two Harbors Investment to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. JMP Securities lowered their price target on shares of Two Harbors Investment from $15.00 to $14.50 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Compass Point dropped their price objective on shares of Two Harbors Investment from $15.75 to $14.75 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Two Harbors Investment has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.71.

About Two Harbors Investment

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.