Two Harbors Investments Corp (NYSE:TWO) Short Interest Up 85,814.0% in July

Key Points

• Short interest in Two Harbors Investments Corp surged by 85,814.0% in July, rising to nearly 8 million shares, indicating a significant shift in investor sentiment toward the stock.
• The company reported earnings of $0.28 per share for the quarter, meeting analyst estimates, despite a negative net margin of 67.06%.
• Two Harbors Investments recently announced a dividend of $0.39 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 15.9%, but has a negative dividend payout ratio of -43.82%.

Two Harbors Investments Corp (NYSE:TWO - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totaling 7,990,000 shares, anincreaseof85,814.0% from the June 30th total of 9,300 shares. Currently,7.8% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,890,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.2 days. Based on an average daily volume of 1,890,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.2 days. Currently,7.8% of the company's stock are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Two Harbors Investments

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wolverine Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Two Harbors Investments by 168.5% in the second quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 744,028 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $8,013,000 after purchasing an additional 466,957 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Two Harbors Investments by 593.6% during the 2nd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 137,674 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,483,000 after buying an additional 117,825 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in shares of Two Harbors Investments by 240.4% during the 2nd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 3,370 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 2,380 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Two Harbors Investments by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,240,983 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $57,074,000 after purchasing an additional 88,518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in Two Harbors Investments in the 2nd quarter valued at about $141,000. 64.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Two Harbors Investments Stock Performance

NYSE:TWO traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $9.99. The stock had a trading volume of 789,129 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,677,264. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07. Two Harbors Investments has a 1-year low of $9.67 and a 1-year high of $14.28. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $10.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.81 and a beta of 1.25.

Two Harbors Investments (NYSE:TWO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28. Two Harbors Investments had a negative net margin of 67.06% and a positive return on equity of 9.39%. The firm had revenue of ($18.12) million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of ($23.29) million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Two Harbors Investments will post 0.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Two Harbors Investments Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd were paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 15.6%. Two Harbors Investments's payout ratio is currently -43.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Two Harbors Investments from $12.50 to $10.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of Two Harbors Investments from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Maxim Group cut their target price on shares of Two Harbors Investments from $15.00 to $12.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Two Harbors Investments from $12.95 to $13.25 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Two Harbors Investments from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $12.88.

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.