Two Harbors Investments (NYSE:TWO) Lowered to Hold Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research cut shares of Two Harbors Investments (NYSE:TWO) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on TWO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Two Harbors Investments from $9.50 to $10.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Maxim Group cut Two Harbors Investments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Two Harbors Investments in a research note on Monday. UBS Group cut their price target on Two Harbors Investments from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Two Harbors Investments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.96.

Two Harbors Investments Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TWO opened at $10.56 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.22 and a beta of 1.20. Two Harbors Investments has a twelve month low of $9.30 and a twelve month high of $14.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $10.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $10.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

Two Harbors Investments (NYSE:TWO) last announced its earnings results on Monday, March 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter. Two Harbors Investments had a negative net margin of 44.10% and a positive return on equity of 11.92%. The business had revenue of ($18.67) million for the quarter. On average, research analysts forecast that Two Harbors Investments will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Two Harbors Investments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 5th will be issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 5th. Two Harbors Investments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -54.40%.

Insider Transactions at Two Harbors Investments

In other Two Harbors Investments news, insider Alecia Hanson sold 10,768 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.41, for a total value of $122,862.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 45,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $516,736.08. This represents a 19.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Robert Rush sold 23,594 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.43, for a total transaction of $269,679.42. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 98,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,122,506.01. This trade represents a 19.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 124,307 shares of company stock valued at $1,420,130. 0.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Two Harbors Investments

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Two Harbors Investments in the 3rd quarter worth about $110,000. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Two Harbors Investments in the third quarter valued at about $42,000. PharVision Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Two Harbors Investments during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $203,000. Quarry LP grew its holdings in Two Harbors Investments by 695.6% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,421 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 2,991 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Two Harbors Investments by 45.3% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,535,534 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $44,766,000 after purchasing an additional 1,415,062 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.19% of the company’s stock.

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.