Principal Securities Inc. Grows Stake in PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust (NYSE:PMT)

Principal Securities Inc. increased its holdings in PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust (NYSE:PMT) by 2,042.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,400 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 2,288 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust were worth $30,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PMT. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in shares of PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 264,702 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,333,000 after buying an additional 1,001 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 643,570 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,103,000 after purchasing an additional 57,281 shares in the last quarter. Longboard Asset Management LP bought a new stake in PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust during the fourth quarter worth about $160,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 73,992 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $932,000 after purchasing an additional 3,892 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 31,820 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $401,000 after purchasing an additional 3,096 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $15.50 price objective on shares of PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $15.20.

PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PMT opened at $14.64 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.01 and a beta of 1.51. PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust has a 52-week low of $11.77 and a 52-week high of $15.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.41. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $13.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.54.

PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust (NYSE:PMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.04. PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust had a return on equity of 11.48% and a net margin of 48.17%. As a group, analysts anticipate that PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust will post 1.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust’s payout ratio is 120.30%.

PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust Company Profile

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.