Two Harbors Investments (NYSE:TWO) Shares Up 7.9% – Still a Buy?

Two Harbors Investments Corp (NYSE:TWO) shares rose 7.9% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $11.99 and last traded at $11.8010. Approximately 1,942,796 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 35% from the average daily volume of 2,985,057 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.94.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TWO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Two Harbors Investments from $9.50 to $10.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Zacks Research downgraded Two Harbors Investments from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 29th. Maxim Group downgraded shares of Two Harbors Investments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Two Harbors Investments in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Two Harbors Investments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.96.

Two Harbors Investments Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.28 billion, a PE ratio of -4.97 and a beta of 1.19. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $10.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.09.

Two Harbors Investments (NYSE:TWO) last issued its earnings results on Monday, March 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter. Two Harbors Investments had a positive return on equity of 11.92% and a negative net margin of 44.10%.The firm had revenue of ($18.67) million for the quarter. Research analysts expect that Two Harbors Investments Corp will post 0.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Two Harbors Investments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 5th. Two Harbors Investments’s payout ratio is presently -54.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO William Dellal sold 7,087 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.44, for a total value of $81,075.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 36,703 shares in the company, valued at $419,882.32. This represents a 16.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Rebecca B. Sandberg sold 27,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.43, for a total value of $312,839.10. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 156,718 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,791,286.74. This trade represents a 14.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 124,307 shares of company stock valued at $1,420,130 in the last 90 days. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Two Harbors Investments

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Two Harbors Investments in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. AlphaQuest LLC increased its holdings in Two Harbors Investments by 240.4% in the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 3,370 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 2,380 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of Two Harbors Investments by 695.6% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,421 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 2,991 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new position in shares of Two Harbors Investments in the third quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Two Harbors Investments by 456.0% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,465 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 4,482 shares in the last quarter. 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.