Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) Reaches New 52-Week Low – Time to Sell?

Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The company traded as low as $37.00 and last traded at $36.9990, with a volume of 13315 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $38.32.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Walker & Dunlop from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 29th. Citizens Jmp lowered their target price on shares of 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 dropped their price target on shares of Walker & Dunlop from $63.00 to $57.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 7th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Walker & Dunlop in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Walker & Dunlop from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.00.

Walker & Dunlop Stock Up 0.9%

The company has a fifty day moving average of $43.22 and a 200 day moving average of $47.39. The company has a market cap of $1.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.28 and a beta of 1.45.

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

Walker & Dunlop Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th were issued a dividend of $0.68 per share. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 20th. Walker & Dunlop’s payout ratio is currently 242.86%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Walker & Dunlop in the 2nd quarter worth $289,614,000. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walker & Dunlop in the second quarter valued at about $63,434,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Walker & Dunlop during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $20,437,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Walker & Dunlop during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $10,454,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in Walker & Dunlop in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $8,532,000. Institutional investors own 80.97% of the company’s stock.

About Walker & Dunlop

Walker & Dunlop, Inc is a commercial real estate finance and advisory firm headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland. The company provides financing, investment sales, capital markets, investment banking, valuation, research, and property brokerage services to owners, investors, developers, and other participants in the commercial real estate industry.

Its financing activities include arranging debt and equity for multifamily, office, industrial, retail, hospitality, and other commercial properties.