Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 16,226 Shares of PennyMac Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFSI)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its stake in PennyMac Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:PFSI) by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 136,578 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 16,226 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in PennyMac Financial Services were worth $15,566,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC grew its position in PennyMac Financial Services by 231.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,166,998 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $133,003,000 after purchasing an additional 815,389 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of PennyMac Financial Services by 6.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 911,741 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $103,911,000 after purchasing an additional 51,777 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of PennyMac Financial Services by 3.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 647,764 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $73,841,000 after purchasing an additional 19,662 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of PennyMac Financial Services by 7.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 447,351 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $50,985,000 after purchasing an additional 31,035 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PennyMac Financial Services by 13.2% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 347,979 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $32,919,000 after purchasing an additional 40,676 shares during the period. 57.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PennyMac Financial Services Stock Performance

PennyMac Financial Services stock opened at $102.07 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.40 and a beta of 1.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $103.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $102.41. PennyMac Financial Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $81.93 and a 1-year high of $119.13.

PennyMac Financial Services (NYSE:PFSI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by ($1.62). PennyMac Financial Services had a net margin of 11.45% and a return on equity of 15.13%. The company had revenue of $411.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $513.12 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.77 earnings per share. PennyMac Financial Services’s revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that PennyMac Financial Services, Inc. will post 11.88 EPS for the current year.

PennyMac Financial Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. PennyMac Financial Services’s payout ratio is 38.10%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PFSI. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of PennyMac Financial Services from $125.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of PennyMac Financial Services from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of PennyMac Financial Services in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays lifted their price target on PennyMac Financial Services from $112.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of PennyMac Financial Services from $112.00 to $111.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PennyMac Financial Services has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO David Spector sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.57, for a total value of $1,075,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 190,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,503,272.28. This represents a 4.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Doug Jones sold 7,882 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.16, for a total transaction of $813,107.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 450,000 shares in the company, valued at $46,422,000. This trade represents a 1.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 152,844 shares of company stock worth $15,658,591 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 16.60% of the company’s stock.

About PennyMac Financial Services

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.