Two Harbors Investment Corp. (NYSE:TWO) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Shares of Two Harbors Investment Corp. (NYSE:TWO - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the seven research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $13.29.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on TWO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Two Harbors Investment from $12.50 to $10.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Two Harbors Investment from $12.95 to $13.25 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. StockNews.com lowered Two Harbors Investment from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Two Harbors Investment from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JMP Securities dropped their price target on shares of Two Harbors Investment from $14.00 to $13.50 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th.

Two Harbors Investment Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of TWO stock traded up $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $11.83. 225,726 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,206,331. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The stock's fifty day moving average is $12.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.26. The stock has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 1.33. Two Harbors Investment 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 quarterly earnings data 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). Two Harbors Investment had a return on equity of 6.52% and a net margin of 66.24%. The company had revenue of ($20.33) million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of ($28.53) million. Equities analysts predict that Two Harbors Investment will post 0.81 EPS for the current year.

Two Harbors Investment Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th were given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 15.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 4th. Two Harbors Investment's payout ratio is currently -352.94%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Rebecca B. Sandberg sold 2,561 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.96, for a total transaction of $33,190.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 146,803 shares in the company, valued at $1,902,566.88. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Two Harbors Investment

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Two Harbors Investment by 1,052.4% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,090,851 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $12,905,000 after purchasing an additional 996,188 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Two Harbors Investment by 28.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,154,757 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $25,491,000 after acquiring an additional 478,958 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Two Harbors Investment by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,313,837 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $27,373,000 after acquiring an additional 371,436 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Two Harbors Investment by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,490,101 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $135,928,000 after buying an additional 329,762 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Two Harbors Investment in the 4th quarter worth $3,898,000. 64.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.