South Dakota Investment Council Increases Stake in PennyMac Financial Services, Inc. $PFSI

South Dakota Investment Council increased its stake in PennyMac Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFSI) by 25.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 46,038 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 9,400 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council owned 0.09% of PennyMac Financial Services worth $4,024,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PFSI. Norges Bank purchased a new position in PennyMac Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at $44,287,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its stake in PennyMac Financial Services by 210.4% during the 1st quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 43,605 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,811,000 after acquiring an additional 29,557 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in PennyMac Financial Services by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,916,271 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $167,474,000 after acquiring an additional 126,902 shares in the last quarter. Clough Capital Partners L P acquired a new stake in PennyMac Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,391,000. Finally, Concentric Capital Strategies LP raised its holdings in PennyMac Financial Services by 420.3% in the 4th quarter. Concentric Capital Strategies LP now owns 86,478 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $11,401,000 after acquiring an additional 69,858 shares during the last quarter. 57.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at PennyMac Financial Services

In other PennyMac Financial Services news, CEO David Spector sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.99, for a total transaction of $879,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 60,604 shares in the company, valued at $5,332,545.96. This represents a 14.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Daniel Stanley Perotti sold 2,925 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.50, for a total transaction of $255,937.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 210,625 shares in the company, valued at $18,429,687.50. This represents a 1.37% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 18,045 shares of company stock worth $1,565,470 in the last three months. 15.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key PennyMac Financial Services News

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings cut PennyMac Financial Services from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on PennyMac Financial Services from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Zacks Research cut shares of PennyMac Financial Services from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of PennyMac Financial Services from $115.00 to $108.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of PennyMac Financial Services from $93.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $105.88.

PennyMac Financial Services Stock Down 11.6%

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

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

PennyMac Financial Services Dividend Announcement

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

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.