Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) Shares Gap Down to $92.64

Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $92.64, but opened at $90.61. Walker & Dunlop shares last traded at $89.01, with a volume of 61,389 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on WD shares. Wedbush cut Walker & Dunlop from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $130.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com cut Walker & Dunlop from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Walker & Dunlop in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.00.

Walker & Dunlop Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a PE ratio of 28.60 and a beta of 1.53. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $94.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $89.43.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $274.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $276.76 million. Walker & Dunlop had a return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 10.18%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.41 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Walker & Dunlop, Inc. will post 4.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walker & Dunlop Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This is a boost from Walker & Dunlop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. Walker & Dunlop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Howard W. Smith III sold 20,166 shares of Walker & Dunlop stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.56, for a total transaction of $1,886,730.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 191,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,917,488.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Walker & Dunlop news, Director Howard W. Smith III sold 20,166 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.56, for a total value of $1,886,730.96. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 191,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,917,488.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Gregory Florkowski sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.45, for a total value of $385,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 11,809 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,978.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 46,074 shares of company stock worth $4,328,255. 5.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walker & Dunlop

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 4,480.2% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 397,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,484,000 after purchasing an additional 388,478 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Walker & Dunlop during the 4th quarter worth about $40,059,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 170.3% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 361,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,512,000 after purchasing an additional 227,577 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 27.5% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 954,795 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,933,000 after purchasing an additional 206,042 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 960.7% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 201,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $14,951,000 after purchasing an additional 182,401 shares during the period. 80.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walker & Dunlop Company Profile

Walker & Dunlop, Inc, through its subsidiaries, originates, sells, and services a range of multifamily and other commercial real estate financing products and services for owners and developers of real estate in the United States. It operates through three segments: Capital Markets, Servicing & Asset Management, and Corporate.