Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning, Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Walker & Dunlop from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Sunday, August 11th. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Walker & Dunlop from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Walker & Dunlop from $105.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th.

Walker & Dunlop Stock Down 0.4 %

WD opened at $112.58 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.09 and a beta of 1.55. Walker & Dunlop has a 12-month low of $62.51 and a 12-month high of $114.64. The business has a 50 day moving average of $105.54 and a 200-day moving average of $98.90.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.07. Walker & Dunlop had a net margin of 8.41% and a return on equity of 9.65%. The firm had revenue of $270.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $274.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Walker & Dunlop will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Walker & Dunlop Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. Walker & Dunlop’s dividend payout ratio is presently 94.89%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Stephen P. Theobald sold 13,870 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.10, for a total value of $1,471,607.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 53,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,715,500.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 5.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Walker & Dunlop

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Impactive Capital LP lifted its position in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 242.0% in the 1st quarter. Impactive Capital LP now owns 1,034,093 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $104,505,000 after purchasing an additional 731,714 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Walker & Dunlop during the 4th quarter worth about $40,059,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 13.8% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,063,522 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $104,438,000 after acquiring an additional 129,289 shares in the last quarter. GPM Growth Investors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walker & Dunlop in the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,595,000. Finally, Castleark Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walker & Dunlop during the 1st quarter valued at about $4,297,000. Institutional investors own 80.97% of the company’s stock.

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.