PennyMac Financial Services (NYSE:PFSI) Raised to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of PennyMac Financial Services (NYSE:PFSI - Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on PFSI. Barclays increased their target price on PennyMac Financial Services from $103.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded PennyMac Financial Services from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and increased their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $105.00 in a report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on PennyMac Financial Services in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a buy rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wedbush raised their price objective on PennyMac Financial Services from $85.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $98.13.

PennyMac Financial Services Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of PennyMac Financial Services stock traded up $1.61 on Thursday, hitting $89.21. The stock had a trading volume of 211,864 shares, compared to its average volume of 235,941. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.92, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.67. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $88.19 and a 200 day moving average of $81.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. PennyMac Financial Services has a twelve month low of $56.16 and a twelve month high of $94.78.

PennyMac Financial Services (NYSE:PFSI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.75. PennyMac Financial Services had a return on equity of 7.69% and a net margin of 10.32%. The firm had revenue of $361.94 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $413.35 million. Sell-side analysts expect that PennyMac Financial Services will post 10.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PennyMac Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 13th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 12th. PennyMac Financial Services's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.52%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO David Spector sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.43, for a total transaction of $1,266,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 285,604 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,113,545.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other PennyMac Financial Services news, CFO Daniel Stanley Perotti sold 11,400 shares of PennyMac Financial Services stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.50, for a total transaction of $1,008,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 257,897 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,823,884.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO David Spector sold 15,000 shares of PennyMac Financial Services stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.43, for a total value of $1,266,450.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 285,604 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,113,545.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 102,802 shares of company stock valued at $8,932,558 in the last ninety days. 17.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of PennyMac Financial Services by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,992,531 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $282,877,000 after acquiring an additional 256,717 shares during the last quarter. MFN Partners Management LP boosted its position in shares of PennyMac Financial Services by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. MFN Partners Management LP now owns 4,531,792 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $241,091,000 after acquiring an additional 556,274 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of PennyMac Financial Services by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,691,512 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $237,851,000 after acquiring an additional 70,178 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in PennyMac Financial Services by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,610,041 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $230,649,000 after buying an additional 19,748 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in PennyMac Financial Services by 7,011.7% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 801,420 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $5,283,000 after buying an additional 790,151 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.87% of the company's stock.

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.