Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 77,955 Shares of PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust (NYSE:PMT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust (NYSE:PMT) by 18.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 506,349 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 77,955 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust were worth $7,221,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PMT. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Simplify Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust in the third quarter valued at approximately $143,000. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust during the 3rd quarter worth $152,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust during the 2nd quarter worth $177,000. Finally, Caprock Group LLC raised its position in shares of PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 13,647 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $195,000 after acquiring an additional 1,156 shares during the last quarter. 67.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $15.17.

PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE PMT opened at $12.59 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $13.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.73. The stock has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.26 and a beta of 1.50. PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust has a 52-week low of $12.33 and a 52-week high of $15.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.41.

PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust (NYSE:PMT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.01). PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust had a return on equity of 11.90% and a net margin of 53.81%. The business had revenue of $80.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.75 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. Analysts expect that PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust will post 1.29 EPS for the current year.

PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 117.65%.

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.