Norges Bank Takes $3.90 Million Position in Two Harbors Investment Corp. (NYSE:TWO)

Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Two Harbors Investment Corp. (NYSE:TWO - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 329,474 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $3,898,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 0.32% of Two Harbors Investment as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Two Harbors Investment by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,440,820 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $33,885,000 after purchasing an additional 48,264 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Two Harbors Investment by 346.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 172,557 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,395,000 after purchasing an additional 133,869 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Two Harbors Investment during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $217,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Two Harbors Investment by 20.2% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 893,014 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $10,564,000 after buying an additional 149,870 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $687,000 after purchasing an additional 28,607 shares during the period. 64.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Two Harbors Investment

In related news, insider Rebecca B. Sandberg sold 2,561 shares of Two Harbors Investment stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.96, for a total value of $33,190.56. Following the sale, the insider now owns 146,803 shares in the company, valued at $1,902,566.88. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TWO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Two Harbors Investment from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $14.00 price target on shares of Two Harbors Investment in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Two Harbors Investment from $12.50 to $10.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Two Harbors Investment from $13.50 to $12.95 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Two Harbors Investment currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $13.53.

Two Harbors Investment Price Performance

NYSE:TWO traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $10.96. The company had a trading volume of 179,646 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,175,348. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The company has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a PE ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 1.36. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $13.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.42. Two Harbors Investment Corp. has a 52-week low of $10.16 and a 52-week high of $14.28.

Two Harbors Investment (NYSE:TWO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.07). Two Harbors Investment had a return on equity of 6.52% and a net margin of 66.24%. As a group, research analysts expect that Two Harbors Investment Corp. will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Two Harbors Investment Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 29th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 16.43%. Two Harbors Investment's dividend payout ratio is currently 85.31%.

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.