Walker & Dunlop, Inc. Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.67 (NYSE:WD)

Key Points

• Walker & Dunlop, Inc. has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.67 per share, with an ex-dividend date of August 21st and payment date on September 5th, representing an annualized dividend yield of 3.3%.
• The company is expected to earn $5.29 per share next year, allowing it to maintain its dividend payout ratio at approximately 50.7%, which is comfortably covered by earnings.
• Walker & Dunlop's recent earnings report showed a miss in EPS at $1.15 compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29, although it reported revenues of $319.24 million, exceeding estimates.

Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, August 8th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of 0.67 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, September 5th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st.

Walker & Dunlop has a dividend payout ratio of 60.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Walker & Dunlop to earn $5.29 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 50.7%.

Walker & Dunlop Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WD traded up $1.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $80.95. The company had a trading volume of 317,408 shares, compared to its average volume of 243,701. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $72.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.45. Walker & Dunlop has a 12 month low of $64.48 and a 12 month high of $118.19. The firm has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.72 and a beta of 1.57.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.29 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $319.24 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $275.84 million. Walker & Dunlop had a return on equity of 8.99% and a net margin of 8.68%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.23 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Walker & Dunlop will post 4.97 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 111.3% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 153,539 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $14,926,000 after acquiring an additional 80,890 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its holdings in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,536 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $441,000 after purchasing an additional 672 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 5,766 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $561,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 49,012 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,764,000 after purchasing an additional 4,996 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its holdings in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 40.0% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 16,980 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,651,000 after purchasing an additional 4,852 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.97% of the company's stock.

Walker & Dunlop Company Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.