Two Harbors Investments (NYSE:TWO) Cut to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Zacks Research cut shares of Two Harbors Investments (NYSE:TWO) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on TWO. Maxim Group lowered shares of Two Harbors Investments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. UBS Group downgraded Two Harbors Investments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $11.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Two Harbors Investments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Two Harbors Investments in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Two Harbors Investments from $9.50 to $10.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Two Harbors Investments presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $12.46.

Two Harbors Investments Stock Performance

NYSE TWO opened at $13.29 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.37. Two Harbors Investments has a 12-month low of $9.30 and a 12-month high of $14.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The company has a market cap of $1.38 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.31 and a beta of 1.19.

Two Harbors Investments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 29th. Investors of record on Monday, January 5th were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, January 5th. Two Harbors Investments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -54.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Alecia Hanson sold 10,768 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.41, for a total transaction of $122,862.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 45,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $516,736.08. This trade represents a 19.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Robert Rush sold 23,594 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.43, for a total transaction of $269,679.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 98,207 shares in the company, valued at $1,122,506.01. This trade represents a 19.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 129,389 shares of company stock valued at $1,483,046. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Two Harbors Investments

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Aprio Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Two Harbors Investments in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $148,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in shares of Two Harbors Investments by 31.6% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 21,823 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 5,242 shares during the period. UBS Group AG raised its stake in shares of Two Harbors Investments by 42.3% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,564,418 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $16,426,000 after buying an additional 464,929 shares during the period. APS Management Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Two Harbors Investments by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. APS Management Group Inc. now owns 29,832 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $313,000 after buying an additional 2,151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of Two Harbors Investments by 38.8% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 25,073 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $263,000 after acquiring an additional 7,005 shares during the period. 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.