Balyasny Asset Management L.P. Purchases 371,436 Shares of Two Harbors Investment Corp. (NYSE:TWO)

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Two Harbors Investment Corp. (NYSE:TWO - Free Report) by 19.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,313,837 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 371,436 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. owned approximately 2.23% of Two Harbors Investment worth $27,373,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TWO. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Two Harbors Investment by 346.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 172,557 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,395,000 after purchasing an additional 133,869 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Two Harbors Investment by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 258,142 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,583,000 after acquiring an additional 3,391 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Two Harbors Investment by 97.0% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,084 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $687,000 after purchasing an additional 28,607 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Two Harbors Investment by 86.5% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,635 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 3,077 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Two Harbors Investment by 42.0% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC now owns 16,900 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $203,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the period. 64.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on TWO. StockNews.com downgraded Two Harbors Investment from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Two Harbors Investment from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Two Harbors Investment from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Two Harbors Investment from $12.50 to $10.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Two Harbors Investment from $12.95 to $13.25 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $13.29.

Two Harbors Investment Stock Performance

NYSE TWO traded down $0.10 during trading on Friday, reaching $11.76. 683,403 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,208,414. Two Harbors Investment Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $10.16 and a fifty-two week high of $14.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.57 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $12.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Two Harbors Investment (NYSE:TWO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of ($20.33) million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of ($28.53) million. Two Harbors Investment had a return on equity of 6.52% and a net margin of 66.24%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Two Harbors Investment Corp. 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 Tuesday, April 29th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 15.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 4th. Two Harbors Investment's dividend payout ratio is -352.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Rebecca B. Sandberg sold 2,561 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.96, for a total transaction of $33,190.56. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 146,803 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,902,566.88. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.61% 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.