Two Harbors Investments (NYSE:TWO) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Shares of Two Harbors Investments Corp (NYSE:TWO) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $9.53, but opened at $10.53. Two Harbors Investments shares last traded at $10.6550, with a volume of 6,048,797 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on TWO. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Two Harbors Investments in a research note 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 shares of Two Harbors Investments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $11.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Two Harbors Investments from $13.50 to $12.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Two Harbors Investments from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $12.88.

Two Harbors Investments Trading Up 11.1%

The business has a 50-day moving average of $11.31 and a 200-day moving average of $10.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.16 and a beta of 1.18.

Two Harbors Investments (NYSE:TWO) last issued 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). Two Harbors Investments had a positive return on equity of 12.00% and a negative net margin of 109.90%.The firm had revenue of $182.18 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of ($15.44) million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Two Harbors Investments Corp will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Two Harbors Investments

In related news, CFO William Dellal sold 7,087 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.44, for a total value of $81,075.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 36,703 shares in the company, valued at approximately $419,882.32. This represents a 16.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Robert Rush sold 23,594 shares of Two Harbors Investments stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.43, for a total transaction of $269,679.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 98,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,122,506.01. This trade represents a 19.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 129,389 shares of company stock valued at $1,483,046 in the last ninety days. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Two Harbors Investments

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of TWO. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Two Harbors Investments during the first quarter valued at about $344,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted 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 increased its holdings in shares of Two Harbors Investments by 24.6% during the 1st 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 acquiring an additional 28,535 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Two Harbors Investments by 54.4% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 91,847 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,227,000 after acquiring an additional 32,361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in shares of Two Harbors Investments by 16.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 18,221 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $196,000 after acquiring an additional 2,512 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.19% of the company’s stock.

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.