PennyMac Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFSI) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

PennyMac Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFSI) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $139.7143.

Several equities analysts recently commented on PFSI shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded PennyMac Financial Services from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $115.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Zacks Research cut PennyMac Financial Services from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of PennyMac Financial Services from $150.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of PennyMac Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, January 18th. Finally, BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating on shares of PennyMac Financial Services in a research report on Friday, January 30th.

PennyMac Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of PFSI opened at $85.62 on Friday. PennyMac Financial Services has a 1 year low of $82.65 and a 1 year high of $160.36. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $101.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $119.26. The company has a market capitalization of $4.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.21, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.32, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.34.

PennyMac Financial Services (NYSE:PFSI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.23 by ($1.26). The firm had revenue of $538.01 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $639.81 million. PennyMac Financial Services had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 24.48%.The firm’s revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.95 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that PennyMac Financial Services will post 13.77 EPS for the current year.

PennyMac Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 16th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. PennyMac Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.90%.

Insider Activity at PennyMac Financial Services

In other news, CEO David Spector sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.39, for a total transaction of $863,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 80,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,963,379.56. The trade was a 11.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Daniel Stanley Perotti sold 2,925 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.30, for a total value of $272,902.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 213,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,924,215. The trade was a 1.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 51,280 shares of company stock valued at $5,154,453 over the last quarter. 15.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PennyMac Financial Services

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in PennyMac Financial Services by 26.3% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 504 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in PennyMac Financial Services by 0.7% during the second 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 buying an additional 111 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in PennyMac Financial Services by 97.3% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 288 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of PennyMac Financial Services by 0.7% in the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 22,145 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,743,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its position in shares of PennyMac Financial Services by 1.0% in the third quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 16,236 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,026,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. 57.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PennyMac Financial Services Company Profile

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.