PennyMac Financial Services (NYSE:PFSI) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Hold

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

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of PennyMac Financial Services from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of PennyMac Financial Services from $136.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of PennyMac Financial Services from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on PennyMac Financial Services in a research note on Friday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price target for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of PennyMac Financial Services in a report on Friday, October 31st. Five 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 has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $142.43.

PennyMac Financial Services Stock Performance

NYSE:PFSI opened at $133.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.01, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $127.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $114.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.96 billion, a PE ratio of 14.43 and a beta of 1.58. PennyMac Financial Services has a 52-week low of $85.74 and a 52-week high of $137.53.

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

PennyMac Financial Services Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at PennyMac Financial Services

In other news, CEO David Spector sold 71,161 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.07, for a total value of $9,113,589.27. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 577,859 shares in the company, valued at $74,006,402.13. The trade was a 10.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Daniel Stanley Perotti sold 26,011 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.36, for a total transaction of $3,416,804.96. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 9,964 shares in the company, valued at $1,308,871.04. This represents a 72.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 218,129 shares of company stock valued at $28,164,517 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 15.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PennyMac Financial Services

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

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.