Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD) Announces $0.65 Quarterly Dividend

Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 7th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of 0.65 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, December 6th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%.

Walker & Dunlop has increased its dividend by an average of 20.5% annually over the last three years. Walker & Dunlop has a dividend payout ratio of 52.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Walker & Dunlop to earn $5.44 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 47.8%.

Walker & Dunlop Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WD opened at $112.90 on Thursday. Walker & Dunlop has a 52-week low of $68.88 and a 52-week high of $118.19. The company has a market capitalization of $3.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.59 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $110.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $102.77.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.07. Walker & Dunlop had a return on equity of 9.65% and a net margin of 8.41%. The business had revenue of $270.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $274.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Walker & Dunlop will post 5.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Stephen P. Theobald sold 13,870 shares of Walker & Dunlop stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.10, for a total value of $1,471,607.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 53,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,715,500.90. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 5.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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