Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Reaffirms “Market Perform” Rating for Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD)

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated their market perform rating on shares of Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $105.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on WD. Wedbush restated an outperform rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Walker & Dunlop in a research note on Friday, February 16th. StockNews.com downgraded Walker & Dunlop from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $117.50.

Walker & Dunlop Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE WD opened at $101.06 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.78 and a beta of 1.52. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $95.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $88.14. Walker & Dunlop has a twelve month low of $61.06 and a twelve month high of $113.67.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.38. The company 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%. Walker & Dunlop’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.41 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Walker & Dunlop will post 4.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walker & Dunlop Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.57%. This is an increase from Walker & Dunlop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Walker & Dunlop’s payout ratio is presently 81.76%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Gregory Florkowski sold 4,000 shares of Walker & Dunlop 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 11,809 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,138,978.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Howard W. Smith III sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.99, for a total value of $1,959,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 191,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,765,868.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Gregory Florkowski sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 11,809 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,978.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,074 shares of company stock worth $6,288,055 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 5.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Walker & Dunlop

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 360.0% in the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Walker & Dunlop during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walker & Dunlop during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Walker & Dunlop by 5,066.7% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio boosted its holdings in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 133.3% during the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.97% of the company’s stock.

About Walker & Dunlop

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.