Citigroup Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in PennyMac Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFSI)

Citigroup Inc. cut its holdings in shares of PennyMac Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFSI) by 81.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,074 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 17,579 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in PennyMac Financial Services were worth $271,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PFSI. Quilter Plc acquired a new position in PennyMac Financial Services in the 1st quarter valued at about $248,250,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in shares of PennyMac Financial Services by 59.9% in the first quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 542 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of PennyMac Financial Services in the third quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in shares of PennyMac Financial Services by 75.9% during the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,890 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,247 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of PennyMac Financial Services by 19.9% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,932 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $156,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares during the period. 57.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at PennyMac Financial Services

In other PennyMac Financial Services news, insider Derek Stark sold 5,255 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.44, for a total value of $470,007.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 27,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,422,392.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO David Spector sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.43, for a total transaction of $1,266,450.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 285,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,113,545.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Derek Stark sold 5,255 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.44, for a total transaction of $470,007.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 27,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,422,392.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 92,802 shares of company stock worth $8,025,358. 17.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of PennyMac Financial Services in a research report on Wednesday, December 6th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered PennyMac Financial Services from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Wedbush boosted their target price on PennyMac Financial Services from $85.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. StockNews.com raised PennyMac Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on PennyMac Financial Services in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $92.25.

PennyMac Financial Services Stock Performance

PFSI opened at $91.71 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $87.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $79.84. The stock has a market cap of $4.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.66. PennyMac Financial Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $56.16 and a 1-year high of $94.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37.

PennyMac Financial Services (NYSE:PFSI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $361.94 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $413.35 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that PennyMac Financial Services, Inc. will post 10.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PennyMac Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 13th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 12th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. PennyMac Financial Services’s payout ratio is 29.52%.

PennyMac Financial Services Profile

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.