Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) Shares Cross Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD) passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $76.76 and traded as high as $82.99. Walker & Dunlop shares last traded at $82.71, with a volume of 71,075 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Walker & Dunlop from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Walker & Dunlop in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Walker & Dunlop from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Walker & Dunlop in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Walker & Dunlop from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Walker & Dunlop presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.25.

Walker & Dunlop Stock Up 1.8%

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.53 and a beta of 1.59. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.76.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.29 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $319.24 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $275.84 million. Walker & Dunlop had a net margin of 9.27% and a return on equity of 8.81%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Walker & Dunlop, Inc. will post 4.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Walker & Dunlop Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st were issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 21st. Walker & Dunlop’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.72%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walker & Dunlop news, EVP Paula A. Pryor sold 5,336 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.20, for a total value of $459,963.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 9,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $805,194.20. This represents a 36.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 2.4% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 160,069 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,663,000 after purchasing an additional 3,805 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 111.1% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 87,854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,499,000 after purchasing an additional 46,229 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in shares of Walker & Dunlop during the first quarter worth approximately $219,000. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 13.8% during the second quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 41,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,927,000 after purchasing an additional 5,046 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 8.2% during the second quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 19,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,355,000 after purchasing an additional 1,455 shares during the period. 80.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.