Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.13 EPS

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD - Get Free Report) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98 by ($0.13), Zacks reports. Walker & Dunlop had a return on equity of 9.64% and a net margin of 9.55%. The firm had revenue of $237.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $260.43 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.35 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Walker & Dunlop Stock Up 1.0 %

Walker & Dunlop stock traded up $0.68 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $72.07. The stock had a trading volume of 104,275 shares, compared to its average volume of 193,945. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $79.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $93.12. Walker & Dunlop has a one year low of $69.59 and a one year high of $118.19. The stock has a market cap of $2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.59 and a beta of 1.64.

Walker & Dunlop Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.67 per share. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Walker & Dunlop's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 91.78%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO William M. Walker bought 17,500 shares of Walker & Dunlop stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $86.21 per share, for a total transaction of $1,508,675.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 411,271 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $35,455,672.91. The trade was a 4.44 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 3.66% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WD has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Walker & Dunlop from $105.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. StockNews.com cut Walker & Dunlop from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday.

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.