Traders Purchase Large Volume of PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust Put Options (NYSE:PMT)

Key Points

• Traders have significantly increased their activity with PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust, purchasing 2,507 put options, marking a 578% increase in volume compared to the average daily trading.
• Multiple analysts have downgraded their price targets for PennyMac, with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reducing it from $14.50 to $13.50 and Wells Fargo lowering it from $14.00 to $13.00.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.40, resulting in an annualized yield of 13.3%, despite experiencing a recent earnings miss with an EPS of ($0.04).

PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust (NYSE:PMT - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors bought 2,507 put options on the stock. Thisrepresentsanincreaseof578% compared to the typical volume of 370 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,623,312 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $140,982,000 after acquiring an additional 30,334 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust by 0.4% in the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,895,196 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $86,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,578 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust by 167.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,173,869 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $27,369,000 after acquiring an additional 1,361,282 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust by 1.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,096,625 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $26,966,000 after acquiring an additional 28,689 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust by 0.3% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,525,689 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $22,351,000 after acquiring an additional 5,295 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.38% of the company's stock.

PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust Stock Performance

PMT traded up $0.02 on Friday, hitting $12.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 770,060 shares, compared to its average volume of 948,107. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $12.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.14. The firm has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.22. PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust has a 12 month low of $11.70 and a 12 month high of $14.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.82.

PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust (NYSE:PMT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.39). PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust had a return on equity of 7.68% and a net margin of 34.65%. The company had revenue of $70.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $95.46 million. Analysts forecast that PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust will post 1.54 EPS for the current year.

PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, July 11th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 11th. PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 222.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PMT. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $14.50 to $13.50 in a report on Friday, July 25th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust from $13.25 to $13.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Jones Trading reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $14.00.

About PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust

PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust, through its subsidiary, primarily invests in mortgage-related assets in the United States. The company operates through: Credit Sensitive Strategies, Interest Rate Sensitive Strategies, Correspondent Production segments. Its Credit Sensitive Strategies segment invests in credit risk transfer (CRT) agreements, CRT securities, subordinate mortgage-backed securities (MBS), distressed loans, and real estate.