Short Interest in PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust (NYSE:PMT) Decreases By 16.2%

Key Points

• Short interest fell 16.2% to 4,174,799 shares as of April 15, equal to 4.8% of the stock and a short-interest ratio of 3.2 days based on average daily volume.
• The trust paid a quarterly dividend of $0.40 (annualized $1.60), implying a 13.1% yield while the dividend payout ratio is about 163%.
• Analysts hold a consensus "Hold" rating with an average price target of $13.60 (three Buy ratings and five Hold ratings reported).

PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust (NYSE:PMT - Get Free Report) saw a significant drop in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 4,174,799 shares, a drop of 16.2% from the March 31st total of 4,982,586 shares. Currently, 4.8% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,305,841 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on PMT. Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust in a report on Friday, March 27th. Citizens Jmp reduced their price objective on PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust from $15.50 to $15.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust from $13.50 to $13.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $13.60.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Amalgamated Bank boosted its position in shares of PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust by 3.3% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 25,689 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $315,000 after buying an additional 831 shares during the period. Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 12,417 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $161,000 after acquiring an additional 915 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust by 57.7% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,943 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,077 shares during the period. Collar Capital Management LLC grew its position in PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Collar Capital Management LLC now owns 90,615 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,137,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedbush Securities Inc. increased its stake in PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 90,310 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,133,000 after purchasing an additional 1,125 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.38% of the company's stock.

PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE PMT opened at $12.20 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.55. PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust has a 12 month low of $11.15 and a 12 month high of $13.81. The stock's 50 day moving average is $11.87 and its 200 day moving average is $12.35. The stock has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a PE ratio of 12.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.24.

PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust (NYSE:PMT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $0.15 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $96.96 million. PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust had a net margin of 41.59% and a return on equity of 9.53%. Research analysts predict that PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust will post 1.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 13.1%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 9th. PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust's dividend payout ratio is currently 163.27%.

PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust Company Profile

PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust NYSE: PMT is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that primarily acquires and manages residential mortgage loans and mortgage-related assets. The company focuses on generating attractive risk-adjusted returns through investment in agency and non-agency residential mortgage pools, credit risk transfer securities, and residential mortgage whole loans. As a mortgage REIT, PennyMac Investment Trust seeks to capture both interest rate spread and potential price appreciation in its portfolio holdings.

Established with external management by PennyMac Financial Services, Inc, the trust leverages the sponsor's mortgage servicing, underwriting and capital markets expertise.

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