PennyMac Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFSI) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

PennyMac Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFSI) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $98.00.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PFSI. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on PennyMac Financial Services from $115.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of PennyMac Financial Services in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays boosted their price target on PennyMac Financial Services from $103.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of PennyMac Financial Services from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of PennyMac Financial Services from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd.

Insider Buying and Selling at PennyMac Financial Services

In other PennyMac Financial Services news, Director Joseph F. Mazzella sold 16,465 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.73, for a total transaction of $1,493,869.45. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 116,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,574,218.58. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Doug Jones sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.49, for a total value of $2,744,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 480,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,915,200. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph F. Mazzella sold 16,465 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.73, for a total value of $1,493,869.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 116,546 shares in the company, valued at $10,574,218.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 77,865 shares of company stock worth $7,124,569. Insiders own 16.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PennyMac Financial Services

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PFSI. Norges Bank bought a new position in PennyMac Financial Services in the 4th quarter worth $31,258,000. Boston Partners bought a new position in PennyMac Financial Services in the 4th quarter worth $28,191,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in PennyMac Financial Services in the 3rd quarter worth $17,242,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in PennyMac Financial Services by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,691,512 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $237,851,000 after purchasing an additional 70,178 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in PennyMac Financial Services in the 1st quarter worth $6,182,000. 57.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PennyMac Financial Services Stock Performance

PennyMac Financial Services stock opened at $92.66 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $91.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $89.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.33, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market cap of $4.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.17, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.72. PennyMac Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $62.15 and a fifty-two week high of $95.18.

PennyMac Financial Services (NYSE:PFSI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.14. PennyMac Financial Services had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 10.94%. The firm had revenue of $305.66 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $422.87 million. As a group, analysts expect that PennyMac Financial Services will post 10.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PennyMac Financial Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 14th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 13th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. PennyMac Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.78%.

About PennyMac Financial Services

PennyMac Financial Services, Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the mortgage banking and investment management activities in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Production, Servicing, and Investment Management. The Production segment is involved in the origination, acquisition, and sale of loans.