Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) Sets New 1-Year Low – Should You Sell?

Shares of Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $80.61 and last traded at $80.98, with a volume of 112664 shares. The stock had previously closed at $85.06.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Walker & Dunlop from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th.

Walker & Dunlop Trading Down 5.8 %

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $99.82. The stock has a market cap of $2.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.11 and a beta of 1.63.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.52 by ($0.18). Walker & Dunlop had a return on equity of 9.64% and a net margin of 9.55%. The business had revenue of $341.45 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $316.82 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Walker & Dunlop, Inc. will post 4.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Walker & Dunlop Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. This is an increase from Walker & Dunlop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Walker & Dunlop’s dividend payout ratio is currently 84.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walker & Dunlop

In other news, CEO William M. Walker acquired 17,500 shares of Walker & Dunlop stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $86.21 per share, for a total transaction of $1,508,675.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 411,271 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,455,672.91. This represents a 4.44 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Walker & Dunlop

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WD. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Walker & Dunlop during the fourth quarter worth $40,226,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 48.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,227,874 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $139,474,000 after buying an additional 402,313 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new position in shares of Walker & Dunlop during the 4th quarter worth $17,384,000. Granite Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walker & Dunlop during the 4th quarter worth $13,338,000. Finally, M.D. Sass LLC boosted its stake in Walker & Dunlop by 57.4% in the fourth quarter. M.D. Sass LLC now owns 264,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,747,000 after buying an additional 96,563 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.97% of the company’s stock.

Walker & Dunlop Company Profile

Walker & Dunlop, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of commercial real estate and finance services. It operates through the following segments: Capital Markets, Servicing and Asset Management, and Corporate. The Capital Markets segment offers a comprehensive range of commercial real estate finance products to customers.