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November 3, 2009

PennyMac's Stock Hits New Low, Earnings Due Thursday

PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust, a mortgage vulture fund that went public this summer, saw its share price hit a new low in trading during Tuesday's session. On Thursday the Calabasas-based company — headed by former Countrywide Financial Corp. president Stanford Kurland — is scheduled to release its first earnings report as a public company. The report will cover its results from August 4, when it completed its initial public offering, to September 30. In trading Tuesday its share price fell to $18.14 compared to a high (since its IPO) of $20. PennyMac was started by Mr. Kurland two years ago to profit from an anticipated boom in sales of distressed mortgage assets. However, banks, thrifts and Wall Street firms have been reluctant to sell their distressed mortgage assets because there has been too wide of a disparity between the asking and bid price on troubled loans and securities. Since going public, PennyMac's shares have been thinly traded.