Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) Stock Breaks Above 50 Day Moving Average After Analyst Downgrade

Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD) crossed above its 50 day moving average during trading on Wednesday after Wall Street Zen upgraded the stock from a sell rating to a hold rating. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $36.69 and traded as high as $38.90. Walker & Dunlop shares last traded at $38.5650, with a volume of 812,956 shares.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Citizens Jmp dropped their price target on Walker & Dunlop from $70.00 to $55.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Walker & Dunlop from $63.00 to $57.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Walker & Dunlop in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Walker & Dunlop from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.25.

Institutional Trading of Walker & Dunlop

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Walker & Dunlop during the 2nd quarter worth $289,614,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 8.2% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,369,114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,760,000 after buying an additional 104,008 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walker & Dunlop during the second quarter worth $63,434,000. Conversant Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 33.0% in the first quarter. Conversant Capital LLC now owns 560,316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,867,000 after acquiring an additional 138,936 shares during the period. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its position in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 3.7% in the second quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 555,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,383,000 after acquiring an additional 19,988 shares during the period. 80.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Walker & Dunlop Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $36.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.62. The company has a market cap of $1.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.43 and a beta of 1.48.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.29. Walker & Dunlop had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 7.25%. The business had revenue of $306.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $337.37 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.15 earnings per share. Walker & Dunlop’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Walker & Dunlop Company Profile

Walker & Dunlop, Inc is a commercial real estate finance and advisory firm serving property owners, investors and developers across the United States. The company provides financing, investment sales, valuation, research and advisory services for a broad range of commercial real estate assets, including multifamily, office, industrial, retail, hospitality and senior housing properties.

Its financing business arranges debt and equity solutions through relationships with banks, life insurance companies, government-sponsored enterprises and other capital providers.