Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) Downgraded to Neutral at Wedbush

Wedbush downgraded shares of Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a report published on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has $95.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock, down from their prior price target of $130.00. Wedbush also issued estimates for Walker & Dunlop’s Q2 2024 earnings at $0.77 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $0.86 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $1.27 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $3.40 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $4.30 EPS.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a market perform rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Walker & Dunlop in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Walker & Dunlop from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $100.00.

Walker & Dunlop Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of Walker & Dunlop stock opened at $92.18 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.99 and a beta of 1.53. Walker & Dunlop has a 52 week low of $61.06 and a 52 week high of $113.67. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $94.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $89.32.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $274.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $276.76 million. Walker & Dunlop had a net margin of 10.18% and a return on equity of 9.15%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.41 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Walker & Dunlop will post 4.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walker & Dunlop Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This is an increase from Walker & Dunlop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.63. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. Walker & Dunlop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Gregory Florkowski sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.45, for a total transaction of $385,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 11,809 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,138,978.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Walker & Dunlop news, CFO Gregory Florkowski sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.45, for a total value of $385,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 11,809 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,138,978.05. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Paula A. Pryor sold 1,908 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $348,791.63. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 46,074 shares of company stock valued at $4,328,255 over the last three months. 5.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walker & Dunlop

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in Walker & Dunlop in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Walker & Dunlop in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in Walker & Dunlop by 5,066.7% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Walker & Dunlop by 360.0% in the first quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the period. Finally, First Manhattan Co. acquired a new position in shares of Walker & Dunlop during the 1st quarter worth $65,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.97% of the company’s stock.

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.