Two Harbors Investment (NYSE:TWO) Raised to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Two Harbors Investment (NYSE:TWO) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Sunday morning.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on TWO. JMP Securities reaffirmed a market outperform rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of Two Harbors Investment in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Two Harbors Investment from $12.50 to $13.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on Two Harbors Investment in a report on Friday, August 16th. They issued a buy rating and a $15.00 price target for the company. Finally, Compass Point assumed coverage on Two Harbors Investment in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They issued a buy rating and a $15.75 price target for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $15.04.

Two Harbors Investment Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE:TWO opened at $12.93 on Friday. Two Harbors Investment has a twelve month low of $9.83 and a twelve month high of $14.59. The company has a market cap of $1.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.26 and a beta of 1.85. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.

Two Harbors Investment (NYSE:TWO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.15. Two Harbors Investment had a return on equity of 3.64% and a net margin of 27.71%. The firm had revenue of $115.95 million during the quarter. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.04) earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Two Harbors Investment will post 0.46 EPS for the current year.

Two Harbors Investment Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 13.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. Two Harbors Investment’s payout ratio is 101.12%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in shares of Two Harbors Investment by 1,680.0% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,225 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 2,100 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Two Harbors Investment by 38.7% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,258 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $115,000 after purchasing an additional 2,306 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Two Harbors Investment during the second quarter worth approximately $144,000. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Two Harbors Investment during the second quarter worth approximately $147,000. Finally, Legacy Financial Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Two Harbors Investment during the second quarter worth approximately $170,000. 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.