Two Harbors Investments Corp (NYSE:TWO) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• Short interest fell 32.8% to 2.92 million shares as of August 14, representing 2.8% of shares outstanding and just 0.7 days to cover.
• Analyst sentiment remains mostly neutral: the stock has a consensus “Hold” rating and a $12.75 target price, despite some recent upgrades and target-price increases.
• Two Harbors reported quarterly EPS of $0.28, matching estimates, and maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.34, equivalent to a 11.2% annualized yield.

Two Harbors Investments Corp (NYSE:TWO - Get Free Report) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of August. As of August 14th, there was short interest totaling 2,920,018 shares, a decline of 32.8% from the July 30th total of 4,343,914 shares. Currently, 2.8% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,298,436 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.7 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on TWO. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Two Harbors Investments from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. BTIG Research reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Two Harbors Investments in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Two Harbors Investments from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Two Harbors Investments from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Two Harbors Investments from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $12.75.

Two Harbors Investments Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:TWO remained flat at $12.18 on Tuesday. Two Harbors Investments has a twelve month low of $11.98 and a twelve month high of $12.19. The firm has a market cap of $1.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.46 and a beta of 1.04. The firm's 50-day moving average is $12.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

Two Harbors Investments (NYSE:TWO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28. The firm had revenue of $247.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.45 million. Two Harbors Investments had a negative net margin of 6.09% and a positive return on equity of 12.79%. Research analysts anticipate that Two Harbors Investments will post 0.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Two Harbors Investments Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd were paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.2%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 2nd. Two Harbors Investments's dividend payout ratio is currently -64.86%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Two Harbors Investments

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its stake in Two Harbors Investments by 243.0% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 139,717 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,596,000 after purchasing an additional 98,987 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its position in Two Harbors Investments by 42.3% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,564,418 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $16,426,000 after purchasing an additional 464,929 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Two Harbors Investments in the 2nd quarter worth $211,685,000. Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Two Harbors Investments by 200.0% in the 1st quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 150,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,713,000 after buying an additional 100,000 shares during the period. Finally, NINE MASTS CAPITAL Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Two Harbors Investments in the 2nd quarter worth $1,124,000. 64.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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