HGI Capital Management LLC Takes Position in Walker & Dunlop, Inc. $WD

Key Points

• HGI Capital Management LLC has acquired a new stake in Walker & Dunlop, purchasing 49,817 shares for approximately $4.25 million, making up 5.3% of its investment portfolio.
• Walker & Dunlop reported a Q2 EPS of $1.15, missing estimates by $0.14, but had a 17.9% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.67 per share, with an annualized yield of 3.1% and a payout ratio of 82.72%.

HGI Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 49,817 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,252,000. Walker & Dunlop comprises approximately 5.3% of HGI Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. HGI Capital Management LLC owned 0.15% of Walker & Dunlop as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Walker & Dunlop in the 1st quarter worth $22,363,000. Royce & Associates LP lifted its stake in Walker & Dunlop by 257.2% in the 1st quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 282,688 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $24,130,000 after purchasing an additional 203,542 shares during the last quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Walker & Dunlop during the first quarter worth approximately $12,111,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Walker & Dunlop during the first quarter worth approximately $11,170,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Walker & Dunlop by 10,661.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 65,215 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,567,000 after acquiring an additional 64,609 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.97% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wedbush reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Walker & Dunlop in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Walker & Dunlop from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $92.50.

Walker & Dunlop Price Performance

Shares of Walker & Dunlop stock traded down $0.90 during trading on Monday, hitting $85.09. The company's stock had a trading volume of 181,248 shares, compared to its average volume of 259,620. Walker & Dunlop, Inc. has a 52 week low of $64.48 and a 52 week high of $118.19. The stock has a market cap of $2.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.26 and a beta of 1.58. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $77.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $77.08.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.29 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $319.24 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $275.84 million. Walker & Dunlop had a net margin of 9.27% and a return on equity of 8.81%. Walker & Dunlop's quarterly revenue was up 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Walker & Dunlop, Inc. will post 4.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walker & Dunlop Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Walker & Dunlop's dividend payout ratio is presently 82.72%.

About Walker & Dunlop

Walker & Dunlop, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of commercial real estate and finance services. It operates through the following segments: Capital Markets, Servicing and Asset Management, and Corporate. The Capital Markets segment offers a comprehensive range of commercial real estate finance products to customers.