Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) Releases Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.10 EPS

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) posted its earnings results on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.29 by ($0.10), Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $292.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $294.24 million. Walker & Dunlop had a net margin of 8.41% and a return on equity of 9.65%. The business’s revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.11 earnings per share.

Walker & Dunlop Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of WD traded up $0.94 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $111.93. The company had a trading volume of 173,418 shares, compared to its average volume of 203,047. The stock has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.38 and a beta of 1.55. Walker & Dunlop has a 52 week low of $68.88 and a 52 week high of $118.19. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $110.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $102.83.

Walker & Dunlop Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Walker & Dunlop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walker & Dunlop news, COO Stephen P. Theobald sold 13,870 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.10, for a total value of $1,471,607.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 53,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,715,500.90. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 5.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WD. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Walker & Dunlop from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Walker & Dunlop from $105.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Wolfe Research upgraded Walker & Dunlop to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Walker & Dunlop from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 11th.

About Walker & Dunlop

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.