Wall Street Zen Upgrades PennyMac Financial Services (NYSE:PFSI) to Buy

PennyMac Financial Services (NYSE:PFSI) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on PFSI. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on PennyMac Financial Services from $140.00 to $146.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Zacks Research upgraded PennyMac Financial Services to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of PennyMac Financial Services from $139.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of PennyMac Financial Services from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of PennyMac Financial Services from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $150.29.

PennyMac Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PFSI opened at $146.06 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $131.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $118.40. PennyMac Financial Services has a 52 week low of $85.74 and a 52 week high of $146.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.74, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.57.

PennyMac Financial Services (NYSE:PFSI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.98 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $632.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $573.46 million. PennyMac Financial Services had a net margin of 25.21% and a return on equity of 11.69%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 53.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.30 EPS. On average, analysts expect that PennyMac Financial Services will post 13.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at PennyMac Financial Services

In other news, Director Anne Mccallion sold 27,771 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.55, for a total transaction of $3,653,275.05. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,507.85. This trade represents a 94.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Gregory L. Hendry sold 3,530 shares of PennyMac Financial Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.64, for a total transaction of $464,689.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 48,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,402,048.12. This represents a 6.77% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 208,129 shares of company stock worth $26,957,567 over the last ninety days. 15.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of PennyMac Financial Services by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,463,096 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $181,248,000 after buying an additional 226,581 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of PennyMac Financial Services by 6.0% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 721,757 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $71,924,000 after acquiring an additional 41,124 shares in the last quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. raised its holdings in shares of PennyMac Financial Services by 5.9% in the second quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 570,210 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $56,816,000 after acquiring an additional 31,743 shares in the last quarter. 140 Summer Partners LP purchased a new stake in PennyMac Financial Services in the third quarter worth about $55,268,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in PennyMac Financial Services by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 429,403 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $53,195,000 after acquiring an additional 30,015 shares in the last quarter. 57.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PennyMac Financial Services Company 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.