PennyMac, Correspondent Giant?

PennyMac released 4Q earnings this morning and the big news wasn't its profit – which was decent – but the fact that it bought almost $1 billion of mortgages from other lenders via the correspondent channel. PennyMac founder and CEO Stan Kurland said 1Q commitments may top $1.8 billion – not bad for a company that came into this world on a mission of buying delinquent loans made by Countrywide Financial and other reckless lenders. (As most anyone in the industry knows, Kurland worked at CFC but was squeezed out before things got ugly there – something he must be forever grateful for.) With backing from Citigroup and BlackRock, PennyMac could substantially grow its correspondent purchases in the quarters ahead. Who knows – within a year it could be a top 10 ranked player in correspondent.