PennyMac Financial heads into Monday's earnings with short interest down 16% over 30 days. Cost to borrow has eased and analysts have slashed targets, but the stock trades 35% below the Street's $131 mean.
Short interest stands at 1.78 million shares, or 3.4% of float, as of April 23. Shorts covered aggressively over the past month, reducing positions by 15.7%. The one-week decline accelerated to 6.4%. Days to cover sits at 4.5 according to the latest FINRA data. Cost to borrow has fallen 30% over the past week to 0.39%, while utilization dropped to 3.0% from a 52-week high of 14.2%. The low utilization signals ample shares available for borrowing.
The put/call ratio sits at 0.51, below the 20-day mean of 0.54. The z-score of -1.33 indicates a tilt toward calls relative to recent norms. The current PCR sits near the 52-week low of 0.50, suggesting options traders are leaning bullish heading into the print.
Analysts have turned cautious. Stephens & Co. initiated coverage with an Equal-Weight rating and $100 target on April 24. Wells Fargo cut its target to $110 from $135 on April 9, maintaining Overweight. Barclays trimmed to $116 from $136 on April 6, also staying Overweight. Piper Sandler lowered its target to $122 from $137 on April 2. The average price target of $131 implies 44% upside from the current $91 level. Keefe Bruyette upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform on March 16, keeping a $115 target.
Benzinga's bull case highlights origination volumes rising 16% quarter-over-quarter to $42.2 billion, ahead of estimates, with potential for book value to approach $100 per share by year-end. The bear case notes operating ROE fell to 10% from 18%, gain-on-sale margins missed at 0.73% versus 0.84% prior, and servicing income declined sharply.
The stock trades at 7.1x trailing earnings, down from 7.4x a month ago. Price-to-book sits at 0.96, up from 0.91 a month ago. The dividend score ranks in the 97th percentile. EPS momentum ranks in the 6th percentile over 90 days, while the 30-day EPS momentum sits at the 28th percentile.
Insiders sold a net $5.3 million over the past 90 days. Chairman and CEO David Spector sold shares in March and April. Millennium Management added 2.5 million shares in late March, lifting its stake to 4.9%. Vanguard added 114,000 shares, bringing its position to 5.4%. HC Partners LLC holds 30.2% of shares outstanding.
The company last reported on January 29, 2026. Prior earnings dates include February 5 and January 29. Shares rose 1.7% on April 24 but remain down 3.4% over the past week.
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