Wedbush Reaffirms "Neutral" Rating for Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD)

Wedbush restated their neutral rating on shares of Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD - Free Report) in a research report report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Wedbush currently has a $95.00 price objective on the financial services provider's stock.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a market perform rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Walker & Dunlop in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. StockNews.com cut Walker & Dunlop from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd.

Walker & Dunlop Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE:WD traded up $1.16 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $95.39. The stock had a trading volume of 283,147 shares, compared to its average volume of 226,695. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $93.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $91.41. Walker & Dunlop has a 12-month low of $61.06 and a 12-month high of $113.67. The stock has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.95 and a beta of 1.54.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.36. The company had revenue of $228.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $251.82 million. Walker & Dunlop had a return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 10.18%. Walker & Dunlop's quarterly revenue was down 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.17 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Walker & Dunlop will post 4.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walker & Dunlop Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Walker & Dunlop's payout ratio is currently 81.76%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walker & Dunlop news, Director Howard W. Smith III sold 20,166 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.56, for a total value of $1,886,730.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 191,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,917,488.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Walker & Dunlop news, Director Howard W. Smith III sold 20,166 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.56, for a total value of $1,886,730.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 191,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,917,488.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Paula A. Pryor sold 1,908 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.09, for a total value of $179,523.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,707 shares in the company, valued at $348,791.63. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 46,074 shares of company stock worth $4,328,255 in the last 90 days. 5.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Walker & Dunlop

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walker & Dunlop during the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. Choreo LLC boosted its holdings in Walker & Dunlop by 8.0% in the first quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 4,587 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $464,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Walker & Dunlop by 73.4% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 16,493 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,667,000 after purchasing an additional 6,980 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in Walker & Dunlop by 163.6% in the first quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 398 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the period. Finally, BSW Wealth Partners boosted its holdings in Walker & Dunlop by 237.5% in the first quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 18,122 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,831,000 after purchasing an additional 12,752 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.97% of the company's stock.

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.