StockNews.com Downgrades Two Harbors Investment (NYSE:TWO) to Sell

StockNews.com cut shares of Two Harbors Investment (NYSE:TWO) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on TWO. JMP Securities reissued a market outperform rating and issued a $15.00 target price on shares of Two Harbors Investment in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on shares of Two Harbors Investment in a report on Friday, August 16th. They issued a buy rating and a $15.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Two Harbors Investment from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their price target for the company from $13.50 to $14.50 in a report on Friday, June 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Two Harbors Investment from $12.50 to $13.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $14.90.

Two Harbors Investment Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of TWO opened at $13.94 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.83 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08. Two Harbors Investment has a 1 year low of $9.83 and a 1 year high of $14.59. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.12.

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

Two Harbors Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.91%. Two Harbors Investment’s payout ratio is 101.12%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Two Harbors Investment by 1,680.0% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,225 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 2,100 shares during the last quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Two Harbors Investment during the fourth quarter worth $58,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 valued at $115,000 after purchasing an additional 2,306 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Two Harbors Investment during the second quarter valued at $144,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Two Harbors Investment in the second quarter worth about $147,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.19% of the company’s stock.

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.