Two Harbors Investment Corp. (NYSE:TWO) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Two Harbors Investment Corp. (NYSE:TWO) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $14.90.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Two Harbors Investment from $12.50 to $13.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of Two Harbors Investment in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Two Harbors Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group upgraded Two Harbors Investment from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $13.50 to $14.50 in a report on Friday, June 7th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on Two Harbors Investment in a report on Friday, August 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $15.00 target price on the stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TWO. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Two Harbors Investment by 32.7% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 25,266 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $352,000 after buying an additional 6,230 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Two Harbors Investment during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $197,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Two Harbors Investment by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,268,379 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $17,669,000 after purchasing an additional 31,457 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Two Harbors Investment in the fourth quarter valued at $8,829,000. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd grew its holdings in Two Harbors Investment by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 12,858 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $179,000 after purchasing an additional 2,808 shares in the last quarter. 64.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Two Harbors Investment Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE TWO opened at $13.72 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.71 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08. Two Harbors Investment has a 1 year low of $9.83 and a 1 year high of $14.59. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $13.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.14.

Two Harbors Investment (NYSE:TWO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.17 earnings per share (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 return on equity of 3.64% and a net margin of 27.71%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.04) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Two Harbors Investment will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Two Harbors Investment Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.12%. Two Harbors Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 101.12%.

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.