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

Two Harbors Investment Corp. (NYSE:TWO) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $13.96.

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

Two Harbors Investment Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE TWO opened at $13.36 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.33 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. Two Harbors Investment has a 12 month low of $10.84 and a 12 month high of $14.28. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $12.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.66.

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

Two Harbors Investment Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.48%. Two Harbors Investment’s payout ratio is currently 85.31%.

Insider Transactions at Two Harbors Investment

In other news, insider Rebecca B. Sandberg sold 3,785 shares of Two Harbors Investment stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.14, for a total value of $42,164.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 152,378 shares in the company, valued at $1,697,490.92. The trade was a 2.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CIO Nicholas Letica sold 3,956 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.21, for a total transaction of $44,346.76. Following the transaction, the executive now directly owns 180,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,025,781.52. This represents a 2.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 33,136 shares of company stock valued at $377,154. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Two Harbors Investment

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Simplify Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Two Harbors Investment during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $134,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Two Harbors Investment during the third quarter valued at approximately $308,000. Phocas Financial Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Two Harbors Investment during the third quarter worth approximately $3,505,000. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Two Harbors Investment by 149.6% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 33,987 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $472,000 after purchasing an additional 20,372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Two Harbors Investment by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,484,543 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $20,605,000 after purchasing an additional 33,852 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.19% of the company’s stock.

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.