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

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

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on WD. Wedbush reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Walker & Dunlop in a research note on Friday, February 16th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Walker & Dunlop from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $117.50.

Walker & Dunlop Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of WD stock opened at $101.06 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $95.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $88.14. Walker & Dunlop has a 52 week low of $61.06 and a 52 week high of $113.67. The company has a market cap of $3.40 billion, a PE ratio of 31.78 and a beta of 1.52.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.38. Walker & Dunlop had a net margin of 10.18% and a return on equity of 9.15%. The business had revenue of $274.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $276.76 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.41 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Walker & Dunlop will post 4.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walker & Dunlop Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.57%. This is a positive change 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 Buying and Selling at Walker & Dunlop

In other Walker & Dunlop news, Director Howard W. Smith III sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.99, for a total transaction of $1,959,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 191,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,765,868.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Walker & Dunlop news, Director Howard W. Smith III sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.99, for a total transaction of $1,959,800.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 191,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,765,868.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Howard W. Smith III sold 20,166 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the director now owns 191,508 shares in the company, valued at $17,917,488.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,074 shares of company stock valued at $6,288,055 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 5.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Walker & Dunlop

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walker & Dunlop during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walker & Dunlop in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC raised its holdings 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. Finally, First Manhattan Co. bought a new stake in shares of Walker & Dunlop in the 1st quarter worth approximately $65,000. 80.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.