Prudential Financial Inc. Lowers Position in Two Harbors Investment Corp. (NYSE:TWO)

Prudential Financial Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Two Harbors Investment Corp. (NYSE:TWO) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 106,373 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 5,200 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Two Harbors Investment were worth $1,258,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Rebecca B. Sandberg sold 5,025 shares of Two Harbors Investment stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.21, for a total value of $56,330.25. Following the sale, the insider now owns 156,163 shares in the company, valued at $1,750,587.23. The trade was a 3.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CIO Nicholas Letica sold 3,956 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.21, for a total transaction of $44,346.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now owns 180,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,025,781.52. This trade represents a 2.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 33,136 shares of company stock valued at $377,154. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Two Harbors Investment Trading Down 10.4 %

NYSE TWO opened at $11.54 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a PE ratio of 5.47 and a beta of 1.36. Two Harbors Investment Corp. has a 1-year low of $10.84 and a 1-year high of $14.28. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $13.35 and a 200-day moving average of $12.57. 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 quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 66.24% and a return on equity of 6.52%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Two Harbors Investment Corp. will post 0.81 EPS for the current year.

Two Harbors Investment Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 15.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. Two Harbors Investment’s payout ratio is 85.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on TWO. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of 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. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $14.00 price objective on shares of Two Harbors Investment in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com raised Two Harbors Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Two Harbors Investment from $11.00 to $12.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $13.96.

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.