Two Harbors Investments (NYSE:TWO) Lowered to “Underweight” Rating by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Two Harbors Investments (NYSE:TWO) from a neutral rating to an underweight rating in a research note released on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $11.00 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock, down from their previous target price of $12.50.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on TWO. Zacks Research raised shares of Two Harbors Investments from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Maxim Group downgraded shares of Two Harbors Investments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Two Harbors Investments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $11.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Compass Point downgraded shares of Two Harbors Investments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Two Harbors Investments in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Two Harbors Investments presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $12.45.

Two Harbors Investments Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE TWO opened at $11.13 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.28 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $10.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.64. Two Harbors Investments has a 52-week low of $8.78 and a 52-week 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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $182.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of ($15.44) million. Two Harbors Investments had a negative net margin of 109.90% and a positive return on equity of 12.00%. Sell-side analysts expect that Two Harbors Investments will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Two Harbors Investments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 2nd. Two Harbors Investments’s dividend payout ratio is currently -27.81%.

Institutional Trading of Two Harbors Investments

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in TWO. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Two Harbors Investments during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of Two Harbors Investments by 695.6% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,421 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 2,991 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Two Harbors Investments by 34.5% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,825 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 981 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Two Harbors Investments during the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Two Harbors Investments by 456.0% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,465 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 4,482 shares during 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.