Two Harbors Investments (NYSE:TWO) Trading Up 7.9% – Still a Buy?

Two Harbors Investments Corp (NYSE:TWO) rose 7.9% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $11.99 and last traded at $11.8010. Approximately 1,942,796 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 35% from the average daily volume of 2,985,057 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.94.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TWO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Two Harbors Investments in a report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Two Harbors Investments from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Maxim Group cut shares of Two Harbors Investments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Two Harbors Investments from $9.50 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Two Harbors Investments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Two Harbors Investments currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.96.

Two Harbors Investments Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.90 and a beta of 1.19.

Two Harbors Investments (NYSE:TWO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of ($18.67) million for the quarter. Two Harbors Investments had a positive return on equity of 11.92% and a negative net margin of 44.10%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Two Harbors Investments Corp will post 0.81 EPS for the current year.

Two Harbors Investments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 29th. Investors of record on Monday, January 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 5th. Two Harbors Investments’s dividend payout ratio is presently -54.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO William Dellal sold 7,087 shares of Two Harbors Investments stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.44, for a total value of $81,075.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 36,703 shares in the company, valued at approximately $419,882.32. The trade was a 16.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Alecia Hanson sold 10,768 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.41, for a total value of $122,862.88. Following the sale, the insider owned 45,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $516,736.08. This represents a 19.21% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 124,307 shares of company stock worth $1,420,130 in the last 90 days. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Two Harbors Investments during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. AlphaQuest LLC increased its holdings in shares of Two Harbors Investments by 240.4% in the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 3,370 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 2,380 shares during the period. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of Two Harbors Investments by 695.6% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,421 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 2,991 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in Two Harbors Investments during the third quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, CWM LLC grew its position in Two Harbors Investments by 456.0% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,465 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 4,482 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.19% of the company’s stock.

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.