Two Harbors Investment Corp. (NYSE:TWO) Short Interest Update

Two Harbors Investment Corp. (NYSE:TWO) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,220,000 shares, a growth of 25.8% from the October 15th total of 2,560,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,090,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.0 days. Approximately 3.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on TWO. StockNews.com lowered Two Harbors Investment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on shares of Two Harbors Investment in a report on Friday, August 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $15.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Two Harbors Investment from $13.50 to $11.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JMP Securities cut their target price on shares of Two Harbors Investment from $15.00 to $14.50 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Compass Point began coverage on Two Harbors Investment in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $15.75 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Two Harbors Investment has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.32.

Two Harbors Investment Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE TWO opened at $11.61 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.41 and a beta of 1.87. Two Harbors Investment has a 52 week low of $11.28 and a 52 week high of $14.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $12.88 and a 200-day moving average of $13.13.

Two Harbors Investment (NYSE:TWO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.22). The firm had revenue of $112.64 million for the quarter. Two Harbors Investment had a positive return on equity of 4.45% and a negative net margin of 87.84%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.01) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Two Harbors Investment will post 0.47 EPS for the current year.

Two Harbors Investment Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 15.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. Two Harbors Investment’s dividend payout ratio is presently -37.34%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in TWO. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its holdings in Two Harbors Investment by 8.7% in the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 90,003 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,192,000 after purchasing an additional 7,229 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Two Harbors Investment by 64.9% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 13,188 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $175,000 after acquiring an additional 5,188 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Two Harbors Investment by 14.7% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 20,927 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 2,688 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its stake in Two Harbors Investment by 39.5% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 38,733 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $570,000 after acquiring an additional 10,960 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its holdings in Two Harbors Investment by 12.0% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 16,743 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 1,798 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.19% of the company’s stock.

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.