Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) Posts Earnings Results

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.36, RTT News reports. The company had revenue of $228.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $251.82 million. Walker & Dunlop had a net margin of 8.87% and a return on equity of 9.16%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.17 EPS.

Walker & Dunlop Stock Up 1.1 %

Walker & Dunlop stock traded up $1.00 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $95.23. 283,147 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 213,456. Walker & Dunlop has a 52 week low of $61.06 and a 52 week high of $113.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.20 billion, a PE ratio of 34.81 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $93.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $91.41.

Walker & Dunlop Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Walker & Dunlop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 94.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on WD shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Walker & Dunlop in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Walker & Dunlop in a research report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Walker & Dunlop from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd.

Insider Transactions at Walker & Dunlop

In other news, Director Howard W. Smith III sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.81, for a total transaction of $1,876,200.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 191,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,965,365.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Howard W. Smith III sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.81, for a total value of $1,876,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 191,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,965,365.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Howard W. Smith III sold 20,166 shares of Walker & Dunlop stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.56, for a total value of $1,886,730.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 191,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,917,488.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 46,074 shares of company stock valued at $4,328,255 over the last three months. 5.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.