Janney Montgomery Scott Begins Coverage on Two Harbors Investment (NYSE:TWO)

Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on shares of Two Harbors Investment (NYSE:TWO) in a research note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $15.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on TWO. JMP Securities reaffirmed a market outperform rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of Two Harbors Investment in a report on Friday, June 7th. StockNews.com lowered Two Harbors Investment from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Two Harbors Investment from $12.50 to $13.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Two Harbors Investment from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their target price for the company from $13.50 to $14.50 in a research report on Friday, June 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $14.90.

Two Harbors Investment Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE TWO opened at $13.61 on Friday. Two Harbors Investment has a 12-month low of $9.83 and a 12-month high of $14.59. The company has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.65 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $13.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.91.

Two Harbors Investment (NYSE:TWO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $115.95 million for the quarter. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.04) earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Two Harbors Investment will post 0.11 EPS for the current year.

Two Harbors Investment Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 5th were given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 5th. Two Harbors Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.12%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Rebecca B. Sandberg sold 4,505 shares of Two Harbors Investment stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.68, for a total value of $57,123.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 112,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,431,495.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Mary Kathryn Riskey sold 3,870 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.68, for a total value of $49,071.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 79,735 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,011,039.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Rebecca B. Sandberg sold 4,505 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.68, for a total value of $57,123.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 112,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,431,495.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 16,545 shares of company stock worth $209,791. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Triumph Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Two Harbors Investment by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 21,795 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $304,000 after acquiring an additional 896 shares in the last quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. lifted its position in shares of Two Harbors Investment by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 39,657 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $525,000 after acquiring an additional 903 shares in the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Two Harbors Investment by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 17,779 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $235,000 after acquiring an additional 944 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Two Harbors Investment by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 52,100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $688,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Two Harbors Investment by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 40,453 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $564,000 after acquiring an additional 1,459 shares in the last quarter. 64.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Two Harbors Investment Company Profile

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.