Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD) Stock Rated “Moderate Buy” by Wall Street Brokerages

Shares of Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $59.75.

WD has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings lowered Walker & Dunlop from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Walker & Dunlop from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Walker & Dunlop from $57.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 9th. Citizens Jmp reduced their price objective on shares of Walker & Dunlop from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Walker & Dunlop in a report on Friday, October 16th.

Walker & Dunlop Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE WD opened at $34.18 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.21 and a beta of 1.52. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.75. Walker & Dunlop has a 52-week low of $31.40 and a 52-week high of $86.32.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.29. Walker & Dunlop had a return on equity of 7.25% and a net margin of 2.94%. The company had revenue of $306.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $337.37 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.15 earnings per share. Walker & Dunlop’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Walker & Dunlop Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th were issued a dividend of $0.68 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.0%. Walker & Dunlop’s payout ratio is currently 242.86%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walker & Dunlop

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WD. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Walker & Dunlop in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $289,614,000. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new stake in Walker & Dunlop during the 2nd quarter valued at $63,434,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Walker & Dunlop by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,369,114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,760,000 after purchasing an additional 104,008 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its stake in Walker & Dunlop by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 555,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,383,000 after purchasing an additional 19,988 shares during the period. Finally, Conversant Capital LLC raised its stake in Walker & Dunlop by 33.0% during the 1st quarter. Conversant Capital LLC now owns 560,316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,867,000 after purchasing an additional 138,936 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.97% of the company’s stock.

Walker & Dunlop Company Profile

Walker & Dunlop, Inc is a commercial real estate finance and advisory firm serving property owners, investors and developers across the United States. The company provides financing, investment sales, valuation, research and advisory services for a broad range of commercial real estate assets, including multifamily, office, industrial, retail, hospitality and senior housing properties.

Its financing business arranges debt and equity solutions through relationships with banks, life insurance companies, government-sponsored enterprises and other capital providers.