Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.36 EPS

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.36, RTT News reports. The company had revenue of $228.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $251.82 million. Walker & Dunlop had a net margin of 8.87% and a return on equity of 9.16%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.17 EPS.

Walker & Dunlop Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE WD traded up $1.00 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $95.23. 283,147 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 213,456. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $93.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $91.41. Walker & Dunlop has a 12 month low of $61.06 and a 12 month high of $113.67. The company has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a PE ratio of 34.81 and a beta of 1.54.

Walker & Dunlop Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Walker & Dunlop’s payout ratio is currently 94.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Howard W. Smith III sold 20,166 shares of Walker & Dunlop stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.56, for a total transaction of $1,886,730.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 191,508 shares in the company, valued at $17,917,488.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Howard W. Smith III sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.81, for a total transaction of $1,876,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 191,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,965,365.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Howard W. Smith III sold 20,166 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.56, for a total transaction of $1,886,730.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 191,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,917,488.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 46,074 shares of company stock valued at $4,328,255. 5.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Walker & Dunlop in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Walker & Dunlop in a research report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Walker & Dunlop from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd.

Walker & Dunlop Company Profile

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.