Two Harbors Investments Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:TWO)

Two Harbors Investments Corp (NYSE:TWO) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors acquired 6,225 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 509% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,023 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Two Harbors Investments in a research note on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Two Harbors Investments from $13.50 to $12.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Zacks Research lowered Two Harbors Investments from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. UBS Group lowered Two Harbors Investments from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $11.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Maxim Group downgraded shares of Two Harbors Investments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $12.88.

Two Harbors Investments Stock Up 0.1%

TWO traded up $0.01 on Tuesday, reaching $11.40. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 484,790 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,756,697. Two Harbors Investments has a 1 year low of $8.78 and a 1 year high of $14.17. The business’s 50 day moving average is $11.26 and its 200 day moving average is $10.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.33 and a beta of 1.18.

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

Two Harbors Investments Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 2nd. Two Harbors Investments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -27.81%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Two Harbors Investments

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Two Harbors Investments during the third quarter worth $25,000. Quarry LP increased its stake in Two Harbors Investments by 695.6% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,421 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 2,991 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Two Harbors Investments by 34.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,825 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 981 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in shares of Two Harbors Investments in the 3rd quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Two Harbors Investments by 456.0% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,465 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 4,482 shares during the last quarter. 64.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Two Harbors Investments Company Profile

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.