Short Interest in Two Harbors Investments Corp (NYSE:TWO) Expands By 24.4%

Two Harbors Investments Corp (NYSE:TWO - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,720,000 shares, an increase of 24.4% from the May 15th total of 5,400,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,660,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.0 days. Approximately 6.6% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Two Harbors Investments Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TWO traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $10.76. 1,676,329 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,280,126. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a PE ratio of -21.09 and a beta of 1.27. Two Harbors Investments has a fifty-two week low of $10.16 and a fifty-two week high of $14.28. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.10.

Two Harbors Investments (NYSE:TWO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.04). Two Harbors Investments had a net margin of 3.50% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The company had revenue of ($20.33) million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of ($28.53) million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Two Harbors Investments will post 0.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Two Harbors Investments

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CWM LLC increased its stake in Two Harbors Investments by 68.4% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,192 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 890 shares in the last quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Two Harbors Investments by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $130,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Two Harbors Investments by 29.2% in the first quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 5,285 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 1,193 shares during the last quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC lifted its stake in Two Harbors Investments by 10.9% in the first quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC now owns 12,142 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $162,000 after acquiring an additional 1,194 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of Two Harbors Investments by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 139,995 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,656,000 after buying an additional 1,770 shares during the last quarter. 64.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Two Harbors Investments from $12.50 to $10.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered Two Harbors Investments from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Two Harbors Investments from $12.95 to $13.25 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. JMP Securities cut their target price on Two Harbors Investments from $14.00 to $13.50 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Two Harbors Investments from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $13.14.

Two Harbors Investments Company Profile

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.

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