Simplify Asset Management Inc. Purchases 1,000 Shares of Two Harbors Investment Corp. (NYSE:TWO)

Simplify Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Two Harbors Investment Corp. (NYSE:TWO) by 10.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 11,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Simplify Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Two Harbors Investment were worth $130,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of TWO. McIlrath & Eck LLC bought a new stake in shares of Two Harbors Investment in the 3rd quarter valued at $64,000. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Two Harbors Investment by 86.5% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,635 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 3,077 shares in the last quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Two Harbors Investment during the fourth quarter worth about $130,000. Beck Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Two Harbors Investment during the 3rd quarter valued at about $194,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Two Harbors Investment in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $172,000. 64.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Two Harbors Investment Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TWO opened at $13.68 on Friday. Two Harbors Investment Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $10.84 and a fifty-two week high of $14.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.48 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The business has a 50-day moving average of $13.06 and a 200-day moving average of $12.63.

Two Harbors Investment (NYSE:TWO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.07). Two Harbors Investment had a return on equity of 6.52% and a net margin of 66.24%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Two Harbors Investment Corp. will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Two Harbors Investment Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. Two Harbors Investment’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.31%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Rebecca B. Sandberg sold 2,561 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.96, for a total value of $33,190.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 146,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,902,566.88. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CIO Nicholas Letica sold 3,956 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.21, for a total value of $44,346.76. Following the transaction, the executive now directly owns 180,712 shares in the company, valued at $2,025,781.52. The trade was a 2.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 33,136 shares of company stock valued at $377,154 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on TWO shares. Compass Point cut their price target on shares of Two Harbors Investment from $15.75 to $14.75 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Two Harbors Investment from $11.00 to $12.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised Two Harbors Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Two Harbors Investment from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $14.00 target price on shares of Two Harbors Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.96.

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.