Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.10 EPS

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

Walker & Dunlop Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WD traded up $0.94 during trading on Friday, reaching $111.93. 173,405 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 203,047. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $110.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $102.83. Walker & Dunlop has a 52-week low of $68.88 and a 52-week high of $118.19. The stock has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.38 and a beta of 1.55.

Walker & Dunlop Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Stephen P. Theobald sold 13,870 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.10, for a total transaction of $1,471,607.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 53,869 shares in the company, valued at $5,715,500.90. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 5.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.