PennyMac Financial Services (PFSI -1.01%) saw a pleasant pop in its share price after announcing the results for its Q1 of fiscal 2020.
For the quarter, the mortgage specialist booked total net revenue of $721.8 million, nearly triple its take in the same period the previous year and well above the average analyst estimate of $664.5 million as tracked by Zack's.
On the bottom line, the company netted just over $306 million, or $3.73 per diluted share. That also represented a substantial year-over-year increase; the Q1 2019 result was a bit over $46 million. Analysts were collectively modeling $3.11 for this most recent quarter.
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Before the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus outbreak exploded, PennyMac had benefited greatly from a frothy economy and very low interest rates, a combination that is ideal for home buying (and therefore one of the company's core activities, mortgage origination). PennyMac said the pre-tax income for both its mortgage production and servicing businesses set new records.
The company also declared a new quarterly dividend on its common stock. The payout will be $0.12 per share, which will be paid on May 28 to shareholders of record as of next Monday, May 18. At the most recent closing stock price, this distribution yields 1.6%. PennyMac is a relatively recent arrival to the world of dividend stocks, having initiated its distribution last October.
On Friday, the company's shares rose by over 5% on the back of the Q1 results. On Monday, in contrast to some of the top equity indexes and numerous peer finance sector stocks, PennyMac fell, by nearly 4% on the day.
