Rhumbline Advisers Decreases Stake in Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD)

Rhumbline Advisers lowered its position in shares of Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD) by 2.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 93,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,941 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned about 0.27% of Walker & Dunlop worth $7,949,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WD. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Walker & Dunlop in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,226,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new position in Walker & Dunlop in the 4th quarter worth approximately $17,384,000. Granite Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walker & Dunlop in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $13,338,000. M.D. Sass LLC raised its position in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 57.4% in the 4th quarter. M.D. Sass LLC now owns 264,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,747,000 after purchasing an additional 96,563 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,318,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $128,181,000 after purchasing an additional 90,725 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.97% of the company’s stock.

Walker & Dunlop Trading Up 2.4%

WD stock opened at $71.45 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.40 and a beta of 1.56. Walker & Dunlop, Inc. has a 12-month low of $64.48 and a 12-month high of $118.19. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $72.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.37.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.98 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $237.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $260.43 million. Walker & Dunlop had a net margin of 9.55% and a return on equity of 9.64%. The business’s revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.35 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Walker & Dunlop, Inc. will post 4.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walker & Dunlop Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were given a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. Walker & Dunlop’s dividend payout ratio is presently 91.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on WD shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Walker & Dunlop from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Walker & Dunlop from $105.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th.

Walker & Dunlop Company Profile

Walker & Dunlop, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of commercial real estate and finance services. It operates through the following segments: Capital Markets, Servicing and Asset Management, and Corporate. The Capital Markets segment offers a comprehensive range of commercial real estate finance products to customers.