Teacher Retirement System of Texas Makes New $421,000 Investment in Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 4,936 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $421,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WD. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in Walker & Dunlop by 456.4% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 306 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Walker & Dunlop in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Walker & Dunlop by 90.5% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 383 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Walker & Dunlop by 122.0% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 26.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. 80.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WD. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Walker & Dunlop from $105.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Walker & Dunlop from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th.

Walker & Dunlop Stock Down 0.7%

Walker & Dunlop stock opened at $73.81 on Friday. Walker & Dunlop, Inc. has a 12 month low of $64.48 and a 12 month high of $118.19. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.29. The stock has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.28 and a beta of 1.54.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $237.37 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $260.43 million. Walker & Dunlop had a return on equity of 8.99% and a net margin of 8.68%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Walker & Dunlop, Inc. will post 4.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walker & Dunlop Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were given a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.63%. Walker & Dunlop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 91.78%.

About Walker & Dunlop

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.