Two Harbors Investments (NYSE:TWO) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Time to Buy?

Shares of Two Harbors Investments Corp (NYSE:TWO) saw unusually-high trading volume on Thursday . 7,564,618 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 151% from the previous session’s volume of 3,016,221 shares.The stock last traded at $12.0750 and had previously closed at $12.35.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Two Harbors Investments from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Two Harbors Investments from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Two Harbors Investments from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $12.50 to $11.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Compass Point reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $13.00 target price on shares of Two Harbors Investments in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $12.50.

Two Harbors Investments Trading Down 2.2%

The company has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.16 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $12.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.51.

Two Harbors Investments (NYSE:TWO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.13. Two Harbors Investments had a positive return on equity of 13.62% and a negative net margin of 87.72%.The business had revenue of $225.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.33 million. Analysts forecast that Two Harbors Investments Corp will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Two Harbors Investments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 2nd will be paid a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 2nd. Two Harbors Investments’s dividend payout ratio is -35.60%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Two Harbors Investments

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Two Harbors Investments by 490.7% in the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,583,939 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,599,000 after purchasing an additional 2,977,196 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in shares of Two Harbors Investments during the 4th quarter worth about $23,886,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Two Harbors Investments in the 4th quarter valued at about $16,523,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Two Harbors Investments by 45.3% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 4,535,534 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,766,000 after buying an additional 1,415,062 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Arbitrage LLC bought a new position in Two Harbors Investments in the 4th quarter valued at about $11,431,000. 64.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Two Harbors Investments Company Profile

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.