Weiss Asset Management LP Acquires New Shares in Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD)

Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 13,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,568,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC increased its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 402,313 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 33.1% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,415,479 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $160,784,000 after purchasing an additional 351,957 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in shares of Walker & Dunlop in the third quarter worth $19,843,000. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Walker & Dunlop during the third quarter valued at $8,156,000. Finally, GPM Growth Investors Inc. purchased a new position in Walker & Dunlop during the second quarter worth about $4,595,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research upgraded Walker & Dunlop to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Walker & Dunlop from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 11th. Finally, Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Walker & Dunlop from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th.

Walker & Dunlop Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Walker & Dunlop stock opened at $108.79 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.67 billion, a PE ratio of 38.85 and a beta of 1.53. Walker & Dunlop, Inc. has a 12 month low of $87.20 and a 12 month high of $118.19. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $110.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $104.70.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The financial services provider reported $1.19 EPS 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 business had revenue of $292.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $294.24 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.11 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Walker & Dunlop, Inc. will post 5.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walker & Dunlop Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. Walker & Dunlop’s payout ratio is 92.86%.

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.