South Dakota Investment Council Boosts Stock Holdings in PennyMac Financial Services, Inc. $PFSI

South Dakota Investment Council increased its stake in PennyMac Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFSI) by 25.7% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 46,038 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,400 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in PennyMac Financial Services were worth $4,024,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PFSI. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in PennyMac Financial Services during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in PennyMac Financial Services in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in shares of PennyMac Financial Services by 7,600.0% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 231 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of PennyMac Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of PennyMac Financial Services by 97.3% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 288 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the period. 57.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of PennyMac Financial Services from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of PennyMac Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of PennyMac Financial Services from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of PennyMac Financial Services from $93.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Stephens reduced their price objective on shares of PennyMac Financial Services from $91.00 to $78.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $105.88.

PennyMac Financial Services News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting PennyMac Financial Services this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo lowered its price target from $100 to $95 but maintained an “overweight” rating, implying substantial potential upside from current levels. Benzinga analyst update
• Positive Sentiment: PennyMac declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share. Investors of record on August 17 will receive payment on August 27; the dividend represents an annualized yield of approximately 1.4%. PennyMac dividend announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: Second-quarter revenue increased 11.8% year over year to $566 million, showing continued top-line growth, although it fell short of the $571.6 million analyst consensus. PennyMac second-quarter results
• Negative Sentiment: Adjusted earnings came in at $1.39 per share, well below estimates ranging from $2.08 to $2.11. The miss was the primary negative catalyst, particularly as earnings were also below the year-earlier level reported by the company. PennyMac earnings and revenue miss
• Negative Sentiment: Two law firms announced investigations into potential securities-law violations and allegations that PennyMac may have provided materially misleading information, including issues related to refinancing. These announcements add headline and potential litigation risk, although no wrongdoing has been established. Rosen Law Firm investigation

PennyMac Financial Services Stock Performance

NYSE PFSI opened at $76.08 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $83.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $93.62. The company has a market capitalization of $3.95 billion, a PE ratio of 10.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.44. PennyMac Financial Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $71.68 and a 1 year high of $160.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.63, a current ratio of 0.33 and a quick ratio of 0.33.

PennyMac Financial Services (NYSE:PFSI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by ($0.72). PennyMac Financial Services had a return on equity of 11.21% and a net margin of 17.74%.The firm had revenue of $566.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $571.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.54 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that PennyMac Financial Services, Inc. will post 9.77 earnings per share for the current year.

PennyMac Financial Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. PennyMac Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PennyMac Financial Services news, CEO David Spector sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.99, for a total value of $879,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 60,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,332,545.96. The trade was a 14.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Daniel Stanley Perotti sold 2,925 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.50, for a total value of $255,937.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 210,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,429,687.50. The trade was a 1.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 18,045 shares of company stock valued at $1,565,470 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 15.80% of the company’s stock.

PennyMac Financial Services Profile

PennyMac Financial Services, Inc (NYSE: PFSI) is a leading mortgage banking company based in Westlake Village, California. The firm operates through two primary business segments: Production and Mortgage Servicing Rights (MSR). In its Production segment, PennyMac originates residential mortgage loans through retail, wholesale and correspondent channels, focusing on both purchase and refinance transactions. The MSR segment involves the acquisition and servicing of mortgage loans, whereby the company earns fees for managing loan portfolios on behalf of investors.

Since its founding in 2008, PennyMac has grown through a combination of organic origination and strategic acquisition of servicing rights, positioning itself as one of the largest residential mortgage loan servicers in the United States.