Two Harbors Investments (NYSE:TWO) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Compass Point

Two Harbors Investments (NYSE:TWO) was downgraded by stock analysts at Compass Point from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. 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. decreased their price target on Two Harbors Investments from $13.50 to $12.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Zacks Research lowered Two Harbors Investments from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. UBS Group cut Two Harbors Investments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $11.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Two Harbors Investments in a report on Monday, December 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $12.88.

Two Harbors Investments Trading Down 1.7%

NYSE TWO opened at $11.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.29 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $11.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.53. Two Harbors Investments has a 12 month low of $8.78 and a 12 month high of $14.17.

Two Harbors Investments (NYSE:TWO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $182.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of ($15.44) million. Two Harbors Investments had a negative net margin of 109.90% and a positive return on equity of 12.00%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Two Harbors Investments will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Two Harbors Investments

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new position in shares of Two Harbors Investments in the fourth quarter worth $130,000. XTX Topco Ltd raised its stake in shares of Two Harbors Investments by 786.2% in the fourth quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 131,618 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,382,000 after acquiring an additional 116,766 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank purchased a new position in Two Harbors Investments in the fourth quarter valued at $634,000. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new position in Two Harbors Investments during the 4th quarter worth $121,000. Finally, Man Group plc acquired a new position in Two Harbors Investments during the 4th quarter worth $1,916,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.19% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Two Harbors Investments

Here are the key news stories impacting Two Harbors Investments this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Definitive merger agreement — Two Harbors agreed to be acquired and taken private by CrossCountry (transaction provides a certain liquidity event for shareholders). TWO and CrossCountry Mortgage Announce Definitive Merger Agreement
• Neutral Sentiment: Compass Point reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on TWO — a steady analyst stance that neither upgrades the stock nor signals support for a higher deal premium. Compass Point Reaffirms Rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Market and analyst commentary highlights mixed mortgage-REIT fundamentals and valuation questions — useful context for whether the deal price is attractive versus expected future returns. Is TWO Price Reflecting Its Mixed Returns?
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusually high options activity and elevated share volume indicate speculative and event-driven trading around the deal — increases short-term volatility risk. Unusually High Options Trading
• Negative Sentiment: Deal price and prior competing bid dynamics — CrossCountry’s $10.80 per-share proposal is higher than a previous suitor’s offer but sits below recent intraday trades, prompting a pre-market selloff as shareholders mark down to the announced take-private price. Termination of Prior UWM Deal; CrossCountry $10.80 Offer
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction: reports note the stock “tumbled” pre-market after the sellout price was disclosed — downside pressure reflects the discount to where some holders had been valuing TWO. Two Stock Tumbles Pre-Market

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.