PennyMac Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFSI) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

PennyMac Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFSI) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the ten analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $105.8750.

Several research firms have commented on PFSI. Stephens cut their price objective on PennyMac Financial Services from $91.00 to $78.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Wall Street Zen upgraded PennyMac Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Piper Sandler lowered PennyMac Financial Services from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $106.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings cut PennyMac Financial Services from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, BTIG Research set a $90.00 price objective on PennyMac Financial Services in a research note on Thursday.

Key Headlines Impacting PennyMac Financial Services

Here are the key news stories impacting PennyMac Financial Services this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo lowered its price target from $100 to $95 but maintained an “overweight” rating, implying substantial potential upside from current levels. Benzinga analyst update
• Positive Sentiment: PennyMac declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share. Investors of record on August 17 will receive payment on August 27; the dividend represents an annualized yield of approximately 1.4%. PennyMac dividend announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: Second-quarter revenue increased 11.8% year over year to $566 million, showing continued top-line growth, although it fell short of the $571.6 million analyst consensus. PennyMac second-quarter results
• Negative Sentiment: Adjusted earnings came in at $1.39 per share, well below estimates ranging from $2.08 to $2.11. The miss was the primary negative catalyst, particularly as earnings were also below the year-earlier level reported by the company. PennyMac earnings and revenue miss
• Negative Sentiment: Two law firms announced investigations into potential securities-law violations and allegations that PennyMac may have provided materially misleading information, including issues related to refinancing. These announcements add headline and potential litigation risk, although no wrongdoing has been established. Rosen Law Firm investigation

Insider Transactions at PennyMac Financial Services

In other PennyMac Financial Services news, CEO David Spector sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.99, for a total value of $879,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 60,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,332,545.96. This trade represents a 14.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Gregory L. Hendry sold 2,177 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.89, for a total value of $189,159.53. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 48,968 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,254,829.52. This represents a 4.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 18,045 shares of company stock valued at $1,565,470 over the last 90 days. 15.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PennyMac Financial Services

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of PennyMac Financial Services by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 16,034 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,598,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of PennyMac Financial Services by 97.3% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 288 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of PennyMac Financial Services by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 22,145 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,743,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its position in shares of PennyMac Financial Services by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 16,236 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,026,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of PennyMac Financial Services by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 2,399 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $316,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.87% of the company’s stock.

PennyMac Financial Services Stock Down 11.6%

Shares of NYSE PFSI opened at $76.08 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.44. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $93.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.63. PennyMac Financial Services has a 52-week low of $71.68 and a 52-week high of $160.36.

PennyMac Financial Services (NYSE:PFSI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.11 by ($0.72). The company had revenue of $566.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $571.60 million. PennyMac Financial Services had a return on equity of 11.21% and a net margin of 17.74%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.54 EPS. Equities analysts predict that PennyMac Financial Services will post 9.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PennyMac Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. PennyMac Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.75%.

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.