Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Put Options on PennyMac Financial Services (NYSE:PFSI)

PennyMac Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFSI) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Investors bought 3,076 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 566% compared to the average volume of 462 put options.

Insider Buying and Selling at PennyMac Financial Services

In other PennyMac Financial Services news, CAO Gregory L. Hendry sold 3,530 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.64, for a total value of $464,689.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 48,633 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,402,048.12. This represents a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Doug Jones sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.63, for a total transaction of $2,652,600.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 430,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $57,030,900. This represents a 4.44% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 80,076 shares of company stock valued at $10,512,190 over the last 90 days. 15.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of PennyMac Financial Services

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. M&T Bank Corp purchased a new position in shares of PennyMac Financial Services during the fourth quarter valued at about $216,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its stake in PennyMac Financial Services by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 5,189 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $684,000 after buying an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in PennyMac Financial Services by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,832,737 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $373,468,000 after buying an additional 12,782 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in PennyMac Financial Services during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $242,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in PennyMac Financial Services by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 10,345 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,364,000 after acquiring an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. 57.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on PennyMac Financial Services from $138.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of PennyMac Financial Services in a research note on Friday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of PennyMac Financial Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 18th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of PennyMac Financial Services from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of PennyMac Financial Services in a research report on Friday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $160.00 target price for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PennyMac Financial Services currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $143.71.

PennyMac Financial Services News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: PFSI declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.30/share (record Feb 16, payable Feb 26) — supports yield and income-minded holders. PennyMac Reports Q4 & Full‑Year 2025 Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Some brokers still rate PFSI “overweight”/”moderate buy” despite cutting price targets (Barclays: $158→$136; Wells Fargo: $150→$135), which signals confidence in recovery longer term even as near-term estimates are trimmed. Benzinga
• Neutral Sentiment: Company provided an earnings presentation and call transcript that investors should review for management commentary on margin outlook and mortgage margin drivers. Q4 Presentation / Press Release
• Negative Sentiment: PFSI missed Q4 EPS and revenue estimates (EPS $1.97 vs. consensus $3.23; revenue $538M vs. $640M consensus); management flagged margin pressure — the primary driver of the sharp selloff. Seeking Alpha: Shares Sink After Earnings Miss
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms (BFA Law) launched securities‑fraud investigations following the post‑earnings share drop, which can increase legal risk, headline volatility and selling pressure. GlobeNewswire: BFA Law Investigation Alert BusinessWire: BFA Law Launches Investigation
• Negative Sentiment: Unusually large options activity: traders bought ~3,076 puts (≈566% above normal), signaling speculative or hedging bearish interest that can accelerate downward moves. (No external link)
• Negative Sentiment: Trading volume and volatility spiked on the selloff — heavy volume usually amplifies price moves and can create short‑term downside as liquidity is absorbed. Yahoo Finance: Q4 Miss & Stock Drop

PennyMac Financial Services Stock Down 33.3%

Shares of PFSI stock opened at $99.91 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $137.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $123.00. The stock has a market cap of $5.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.57. PennyMac Financial Services has a 12 month low of $85.74 and a 12 month high of $160.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.01.

PennyMac Financial Services (NYSE:PFSI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.97 earnings per share (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 10.36% and a net margin of 24.48%.The company’s revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.95 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that PennyMac Financial Services will post 13.77 earnings per share for the current year.

PennyMac Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 16th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. PennyMac Financial Services’s payout ratio is 12.93%.

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.