Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) Sets New 1-Year Low – Time to Sell?

Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $38.78 and last traded at $38.5350, with a volume of 450367 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $40.11.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WD has been the topic of a number of research reports. 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. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Walker & Dunlop from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 29th. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Walker & Dunlop in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Walker & Dunlop from $63.00 to $57.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reduced their target price on Walker & Dunlop from $70.00 to $55.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walker & Dunlop presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.00.

Walker & Dunlop Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $44.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.32 billion, a PE ratio of 34.36 and a beta of 1.45.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) last issued 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 company had revenue of $306.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $337.37 million. Walker & Dunlop had a net margin of 2.94% and a return on equity of 7.25%. Walker & Dunlop’s revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.15 EPS.

Walker & Dunlop Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th were issued a dividend of $0.68 per share. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.1%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 20th. Walker & Dunlop’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 242.86%.

Institutional Trading of Walker & Dunlop

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Walker & Dunlop during the second quarter valued at $289,614,000. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walker & Dunlop in the second quarter worth $63,434,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 8.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 104,008 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP increased its holdings in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 545,558 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,815,000 after acquiring an additional 59,465 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 3.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.