Two Harbors Investment Corp. (NYSE:TWO) recently underwent a significant trimming of its stake by Commonwealth Equity Services LLC during the fourth quarter, according to recent filings with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund’s stake in the real estate investment trust dropped by an astounding 46.3%, as it sold 34,228 shares and increased perplexity among investors.
As of its most recent filing with the SEC, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns only 39,673 shares of Two Harbors’ stock, which is worth approximately $625,000. This has raised many eyebrows in the investment world as the business also declared a quarterly dividend that was paid on Friday, April 28th.
Shareholders who were recorded on Tuesday, April 4th received a $0.60 dividend payout; seen as generous by some industry experts. Two Harbors representatives have confirmed that this represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and gives shareholders a yield of 20.39%. However, based on these numbers alone, it seems that the company’s dividend payout ratio is currently -72.51%.
With all these happenings attracting attention from proprietors of notable equity providers such as Maxim Group, Citigroup and Barclays; their expert insights are analyzed to further explain Two Harbor Investment’s current standing.
Maxim Group raised shares of Two Harbors Investment from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and gave their official price target at $19 per share in research released back in February 2023.
Citigroup supports this sentiment since they boosted their price target for TWO stock from $15 to $17 and branded it “neutral” citing uncertain times where caution should be exercised in decision making by shareholders.
However JMP Securities had earlier revised down its projection for two harbours investment but still remained optimistic stating that “the company performs better than other contemporary real estate trusts”.
Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ bullish stand on Two Harbors Investment was seen as an applaudable move as they boosted their firm’s price target from $17.25 to $17.50 while keeping tabs with industry performance.
Further analysis reports and expert opinions, particularly from a Bloomberg poll suggest that shares of the investment trust are rated “hold” and that the company has a consensus price target indicative of opportunity for growth mirroring its strong historical financial performances.
It is definitely an interesting time to invest in Two Harbors Investment Corp. While some may see Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s trimming of almost half their stake as a red flag, others might not harbor similar sentiments. Overall, it seems that despite fluctuations and downgrades by some analysts, the consensus remains; this real estate investment trust holds potential for those willing to invest.
Investor Activity in Two Harbors Investment Corporation and Insider Selling by General Counsel and CFO
May 26, 2023 – Two Harbors Investment Corporation has been the subject of significant investor activity in recent quarters. Several institutional investors have either increased or decreased their stakes in the company, including Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust, Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC, and Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC. This comes as the firm’s general counsel, Rebecca B. Sandberg, and chief financial officer, Mary Kathryn Riskey, sold thousands of shares in late May.
Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust purchased a new position in Two Harbors Investment Corporation during the fourth quarter of 2022 for an approximate value of $75,000. Likewise, Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC acquired a new stake worth about $102,000 in the same quarter. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC joined these firms by acquiring a new position worth around $30,000 during Q3’22.
The first quarter of 2023 saw Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchasing a new stake valued at roughly $58,000. Boenning & Scattergood Inc also joined this trend by buying a stake valued at approximately $59,000 during Q4’22.
The company has been active internally as well with general counsel Rebecca B. Sandberg selling 4,175 shares at an average price of $12.33 on May 22nd. This resulted in a total value of over $51k with her now owning just under 94k shares worth over $1 million.
CFO Mary Kathryn Riskey was also active that day selling 3,755 shares at an average price of $12.33 for a total transaction value of approximately $46k with direct ownership now consisting solely of over 64k shares valued at nearly $800k.
It’s worth noting that corporate insiders sold over 23 thousand shares worth just under $290k in total during Q1’23 with insiders still owning only .45% of THI’s market capitalization.
Two Harbors Investment Corporation stock opened at $11.77 on Friday, with a 1-year low of $11.57 and high of $21.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06 with a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The firm is currently valued at $1.14 billion with PE ratio hovering around -3.56 and beta measuring in at 1.75 alongside a simple moving average of $13.26 for the last 50 days and an average of $15.35 over the past 200 days.
The firm remains an active participant in the marketplace, as evidenced by both institutional and insider movement in recent months. Investors will be watching closely to see how these developments continue to affect THI’s market value moving forward, especially with some lackluster performances over the past year or so hurting stock prices initially despite continued revenue growth as THI continues to make adjustments towards more profitability overall while still providing value in their mortgage REIT strategy centered around residential mortgages all over North America among other areas such as commercial properties too – it’ll be interesting times ahead for sure!
Discussion about this post