Head-To-Head Analysis: Greystone Housing Impact Investors (NYSE:GHI) and Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD)

Greystone Housing Impact Investors (NYSE:GHI) and Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends and profitability.

Risk & Volatility

Greystone Housing Impact Investors has a beta of 0.69, meaning that its stock price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Walker & Dunlop has a beta of 1.53, meaning that its stock price is 53% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

9.0% of Greystone Housing Impact Investors shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.0% of Walker & Dunlop shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.3% of Greystone Housing Impact Investors shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 5.5% of Walker & Dunlop shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Greystone Housing Impact Investors pays an annual dividend of $1.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 13.8%. Walker & Dunlop pays an annual dividend of $2.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Greystone Housing Impact Investors pays out 238.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Walker & Dunlop pays out 92.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Greystone Housing Impact Investors and Walker & Dunlop, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Greystone Housing Impact Investors	0	0	4	0	3.00
Walker & Dunlop	0	2	0	1	2.67

Greystone Housing Impact Investors presently has a consensus target price of $17.38, suggesting a potential upside of 61.78%. Walker & Dunlop has a consensus target price of $111.00, suggesting a potential upside of 16.00%. Given Greystone Housing Impact Investors’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Greystone Housing Impact Investors is more favorable than Walker & Dunlop.

Profitability

This table compares Greystone Housing Impact Investors and Walker & Dunlop’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Greystone Housing Impact Investors	17.55%	2.46%	0.55%
Walker & Dunlop	8.91%	9.81%	4.11%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Greystone Housing Impact Investors and Walker & Dunlop”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Greystone Housing Impact Investors	$36.57 million	6.84	$54.01 million	$0.62	17.32
Walker & Dunlop	$1.07 billion	3.03	$107.36 million	$2.80	34.18

Walker & Dunlop has higher revenue and earnings than Greystone Housing Impact Investors. Greystone Housing Impact Investors is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Walker & Dunlop, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Walker & Dunlop beats Greystone Housing Impact Investors on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Greystone Housing Impact Investors

Greystone Housing Impact Investors LP acquires, holds, sells, and deals in a portfolio of mortgage revenue bonds (MRBs) that are issued to provide construction and/or permanent financing for multifamily, student, and senior citizen housing; skilled nursing properties; and commercial properties in the United States. The company operates in four segments: Affordable Multifamily MRB Investments; Seniors and Skilled Nursing MRB Investments; MF Properties; Market-Rate Joint Venture Investments. It also invests in governmental issuer loans. The company was formerly known as America First Multifamily Investors, L.P. and changed its name to Greystone Housing Impact Investors LP in December 2022. Greystone Housing Impact Investors LP was incorporated in 1998 and is based in Omaha, Nebraska.

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. The company offers first mortgage, second trust, supplemental, construction, mezzanine, preferred equity, and small-balance loans. It also provides finance for multifamily, manufactured housing communities, student housing, affordable housing, and senior housing properties under the Fannie Mae's DUS program; and construction and permanent loans to developers and owners of multifamily housing, affordable housing, senior housing, and healthcare facilities. In addition, the company acts as a debt broker to work with life insurance companies, banks, and other institutional lenders to find debt and/or equity solution for the borrowers' needs; and offers property sales brokerage services to owners and developers of multifamily properties, and commercial real estate and multifamily property appraisals for various investors. Further, it provides multifamily appraisal and valuation services; and real estate-related investment banking and advisory services, including housing market research. Additionally, the company offers servicing and asset-managing the portfolio of loans; originates loans through its principal lending and investing activities; and manages third-party capital invested in tax credit equity funds focused on the LIHTC sector and other commercial real estate sectors. Walker & Dunlop, Inc. was founded in 1937 and is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland.