Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Wolfe Research

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) was upgraded by research analysts at Wolfe Research to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also commented on WD. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Walker & Dunlop from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price target on Walker & Dunlop from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th.

Walker & Dunlop Stock Performance

Shares of WD opened at $113.98 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $105.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $99.01. The company has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.60 and a beta of 1.55. Walker & Dunlop has a fifty-two week low of $62.51 and a fifty-two week high of $114.64.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $270.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $274.50 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. Walker & Dunlop’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Walker & Dunlop will post 5.27 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Walker & Dunlop

In other Walker & Dunlop news, COO Stephen P. Theobald sold 13,870 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.10, for a total transaction of $1,471,607.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 53,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,715,500.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 5.47% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walker & Dunlop

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WD. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,761,433 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $417,557,000 after buying an additional 10,743 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position 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 worth $129,566,000 after acquiring an additional 20,739 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Walker & Dunlop by 13.8% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,063,522 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $104,438,000 after acquiring an additional 129,289 shares during the last quarter. Impactive Capital LP raised its position in Walker & Dunlop by 242.0% in the first quarter. Impactive Capital LP now owns 1,034,093 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $104,505,000 after purchasing an additional 731,714 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 377,417 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,062,000 after purchasing an additional 2,815 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.97% of the company’s stock.

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.