Wells Fargo & Company Cuts PennyMac Financial Services (NYSE:PFSI) Price Target to $100.00

PennyMac Financial Services (NYSE:PFSI) had its price objective decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $110.00 to $100.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of 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 report on Monday, March 16th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of PennyMac Financial Services in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Barclays decreased their price objective on PennyMac Financial Services from $136.00 to $116.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 6th. Weiss Ratings lowered PennyMac Financial Services from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of PennyMac Financial Services from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PennyMac Financial Services presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.88.

PennyMac Financial Services Stock Performance

PFSI stock opened at $90.62 on Wednesday. PennyMac Financial Services has a 1 year low of $82.65 and a 1 year high of $160.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.63, a PEG ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.32, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.34. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $89.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $113.26.

PennyMac Financial Services (NYSE:PFSI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.19 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.22 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $544.98 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $546.17 million. PennyMac Financial Services had a return on equity of 11.02% and a net margin of 23.47%.The firm’s revenue was up 26.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.42 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that PennyMac Financial Services will post 10.68 EPS for the current year.

PennyMac Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 28th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. PennyMac Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.75%.

Insider Transactions at PennyMac Financial Services

In other news, CEO David Spector sold 12,436 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.39, for a total transaction of $1,074,346.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 529,401 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,734,952.39. This trade represents a 2.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Patrick Kinsella acquired 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $89.15 per share, for a total transaction of $200,587.50. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 34,210 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,049,821.50. The trade was a 7.04% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders sold 51,280 shares of company stock valued at $4,630,853 in the last three months. 15.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of PennyMac Financial Services

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFSI. 140 Summer Partners LP acquired a new position in PennyMac Financial Services in the third quarter worth approximately $55,268,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of PennyMac Financial Services during the 4th quarter valued at $44,287,000. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its position in shares of PennyMac Financial Services by 1,148.7% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 310,919 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,517,000 after acquiring an additional 286,019 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of PennyMac Financial Services by 2,379.5% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 245,268 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,384,000 after acquiring an additional 235,376 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of PennyMac Financial Services by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,463,096 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $181,248,000 after acquiring an additional 226,581 shares in the last quarter. 57.87% of the stock is currently 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.