PennyMac Financial Services (NYSE:PFSI) Upgraded at Stephens

Stephens upgraded shares of PennyMac Financial Services (NYSE:PFSI) to a hold rating in a research report released on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

PFSI has been the subject of several other reports. 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on PennyMac Financial Services from $135.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings downgraded PennyMac Financial Services from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Barclays reduced their target price on PennyMac Financial Services from $136.00 to $116.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded PennyMac Financial Services from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PennyMac Financial Services currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $127.25.

PennyMac Financial Services Stock Performance

PFSI stock opened at $91.27 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $89.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $114.69. PennyMac Financial Services has a 1-year low of $82.65 and a 1-year high of $160.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.32. The firm has a market cap of $4.76 billion, a PE ratio of 9.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.52.

PennyMac Financial Services (NYSE:PFSI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.23 by ($1.26). PennyMac Financial Services had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 24.48%.The business had revenue of $538.01 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $639.81 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.95 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that PennyMac Financial Services will post 11.88 earnings per share for the current year.

PennyMac Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 16th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. PennyMac Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.90%.

Insider Transactions at PennyMac Financial Services

In other PennyMac Financial Services news, insider Derek Stark sold 1,066 shares of PennyMac Financial Services stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.66, for a total transaction of $93,445.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 20,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,835,951.04. The trade was a 4.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Daniel Stanley Perotti sold 2,925 shares of PennyMac Financial Services stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.30, for a total value of $272,902.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 213,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,924,215. This trade represents a 1.35% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 51,280 shares of company stock valued at $4,630,853. 15.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PennyMac Financial Services

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake 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 valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in PennyMac Financial Services by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 16,034 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,598,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in PennyMac Financial Services by 97.3% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 288 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in PennyMac Financial Services by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 22,145 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,743,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its stake in PennyMac Financial Services by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 16,236 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,026,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.87% of the company’s stock.

About PennyMac Financial Services

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.