Two Harbors Investments (NYSE:TWO) Shares Down 4.9% – Should You Sell?

Two Harbors Investments Corp (NYSE:TWO)’s stock price traded down 4.9% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $11.35 and last traded at $11.3550. 1,158,735 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 3,567,116 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.94.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on TWO. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Two Harbors Investments in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Maxim Group downgraded Two Harbors Investments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. UBS Group lowered Two Harbors Investments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $11.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Two Harbors Investments from $13.50 to $12.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Two Harbors Investments from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $12.88.

Two Harbors Investments Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $11.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $10.43. The company has a market cap of $1.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.26 and a beta of 1.19.

Two Harbors Investments (NYSE:TWO) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $182.18 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of ($15.44) million. Two Harbors Investments had a positive return on equity of 12.00% and a negative net margin of 109.90%. Analysts predict that Two Harbors Investments Corp will post 0.81 EPS for the current year.

Two Harbors Investments Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 29th. Investors of record on Monday, January 5th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, January 5th. Two Harbors Investments’s dividend payout ratio is presently -27.81%.

Insider Transactions at Two Harbors Investments

In other news, insider Rebecca B. Sandberg sold 27,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.43, for a total value of $312,839.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 156,718 shares in the company, valued at $1,791,286.74. This represents a 14.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CIO Nicholas Letica sold 55,488 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.42, for a total transaction of $633,672.96. Following the sale, the executive owned 166,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,901,509.94. The trade was a 25.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 129,389 shares of company stock valued at $1,483,046. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Two Harbors Investments in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $344,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Two Harbors Investments by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,206,549 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $16,119,000 after acquiring an additional 115,698 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in shares of Two Harbors Investments by 24.6% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 144,670 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,933,000 after purchasing an additional 28,535 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Two Harbors Investments by 54.4% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 91,847 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,227,000 after purchasing an additional 32,361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new stake in shares of Two Harbors Investments in the second quarter worth $141,000. 64.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.