Norges Bank Purchases New Holdings in Two Harbors Investment Corp. (NYSE:TWO)

Norges Bank bought a new stake in Two Harbors Investment Corp. (NYSE:TWO) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 329,474 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $3,898,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in TWO. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Two Harbors Investment by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,490,101 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $135,928,000 after purchasing an additional 329,762 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Two Harbors Investment by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,350,945 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $64,158,000 after buying an additional 69,725 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Two Harbors Investment by 2.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,877,111 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $53,814,000 after buying an additional 102,294 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Two Harbors Investment by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,440,820 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,885,000 after buying an additional 48,264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Two Harbors Investment by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,542,458 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $18,247,000 after buying an additional 57,915 shares in the last quarter. 64.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Two Harbors Investment Stock Performance

NYSE TWO opened at $10.74 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a PE ratio of 5.09 and a beta of 1.36. Two Harbors Investment Corp. has a twelve month low of $10.16 and a twelve month high of $14.28. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Two Harbors Investment (NYSE:TWO) last announced its 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Two Harbors Investment Corp. will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Two Harbors Investment Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 29th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 16.77%. Two Harbors Investment’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Two Harbors Investment

In related news, insider Rebecca B. Sandberg sold 3,014 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.24, for a total value of $33,877.36. Following the sale, the insider now owns 149,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,678,851.36. The trade was a 1.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CIO Nicholas Letica sold 5,737 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.28, for a total value of $64,713.36. Following the transaction, the executive now owns 168,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,905,586.80. This trade represents a 3.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,163 shares of company stock valued at $154,005 over the last quarter. 0.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Two Harbors Investment from $11.00 to $12.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised Two Harbors Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $14.00 price objective on shares of Two Harbors Investment in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Two Harbors Investment from $13.50 to $12.95 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Two Harbors Investment from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.81.

Two Harbors Investment 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.