PennyMac Financial Services (NYSE:PFSI) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of PennyMac Financial Services (NYSE:PFSI) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Saturday.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of PennyMac Financial Services from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on PennyMac Financial Services from $136.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. UBS Group lifted their target price on PennyMac Financial Services from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on PennyMac Financial Services in a research report on Friday. They set a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on PennyMac Financial Services from $136.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $143.29.

PennyMac Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PFSI opened at $134.56 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $128.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $114.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.01, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The company has a market cap of $6.99 billion, a PE ratio of 14.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.58. PennyMac Financial Services has a 12 month low of $85.74 and a 12 month high of $137.53.

PennyMac Financial Services (NYSE:PFSI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.98 by $0.39. PennyMac Financial Services had a net margin of 25.21% and a return on equity of 11.69%. The firm had revenue of $632.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $573.46 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.30 EPS. PennyMac Financial Services’s revenue for the quarter was up 53.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that PennyMac Financial Services will post 13.77 earnings per share for the current year.

PennyMac Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 17th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. PennyMac Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PennyMac Financial Services

In other news, Director Anne Mccallion sold 27,771 shares of PennyMac Financial Services stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.55, for a total transaction of $3,653,275.05. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,507.85. The trade was a 94.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Daniel Stanley Perotti sold 8,775 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.67, for a total value of $1,111,529.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 216,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,420,888.25. This trade represents a 3.90% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 213,129 shares of company stock worth $27,549,667. 15.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of PennyMac Financial Services

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PFSI. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of PennyMac Financial Services during the 1st quarter valued at about $10,550,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in PennyMac Financial Services by 19.8% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 17,145 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,716,000 after acquiring an additional 2,832 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC grew its holdings in shares of PennyMac Financial Services by 4.4% during the first quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 2,587 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $259,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC raised its position in shares of PennyMac Financial Services by 48.8% during the 1st quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 4,464 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $447,000 after purchasing an additional 1,464 shares during the period. Finally, EMG Holdings L.P. bought a new stake in shares of PennyMac Financial Services in the 1st quarter worth approximately $6,465,000. 57.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About PennyMac Financial Services

PennyMac Financial Services, Inc (NYSE: PFSI) is a leading mortgage banking company based in Westlake Village, California. The firm operates through two primary business segments: Production and Mortgage Servicing Rights (MSR). In its Production segment, PennyMac originates residential mortgage loans through retail, wholesale and correspondent channels, focusing on both purchase and refinance transactions. The MSR segment involves the acquisition and servicing of mortgage loans, whereby the company earns fees for managing loan portfolios on behalf of investors.

Since its founding in 2008, PennyMac has grown through a combination of organic origination and strategic acquisition of servicing rights, positioning itself as one of the largest residential mortgage loan servicers in the United States.