Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD) Short Interest Down 17.0% in October

Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 855,200 shares, a decrease of 17.0% from the October 15th total of 1,030,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 166,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.1 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walker & Dunlop

In other Walker & Dunlop news, COO Stephen P. Theobald sold 13,870 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was 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 owns 53,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,715,500.90. This represents a 20.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 5.47% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walker & Dunlop

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WD. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,434,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $162,930,000 after buying an additional 18,461 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Walker & Dunlop by 33.1% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,415,479 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $160,784,000 after purchasing an additional 351,957 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Walker & Dunlop by 1.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,319,434 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $129,566,000 after purchasing an additional 20,739 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 402,313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Impactive Capital LP raised its stake in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 242.0% during the 1st quarter. Impactive Capital LP now owns 1,034,093 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $104,505,000 after purchasing an additional 731,714 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.97% of the company’s stock.

Walker & Dunlop Stock Performance

Shares of WD opened at $106.62 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $110.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $103.41. Walker & Dunlop has a 52-week low of $81.14 and a 52-week high of $118.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.60 billion, a PE ratio of 38.08 and a beta of 1.55.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by ($0.10). Walker & Dunlop had a net margin of 8.91% and a return on equity of 9.81%. The company had revenue of $292.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $294.24 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.11 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Walker & Dunlop will post 5.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walker & Dunlop Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd. Walker & Dunlop’s payout ratio is 92.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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