Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD) Increases Dividend to $0.67 Per Share

Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 13th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of 0.67 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This is a positive change from Walker & Dunlop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65.

Walker & Dunlop has increased its dividend by an average of 9.1% per year over the last three years. Walker & Dunlop has a payout ratio of 50.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Walker & Dunlop to earn $5.29 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 50.7%.

Walker & Dunlop Stock Performance

WD opened at $85.06 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.66 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a fifty day moving average of $93.18 and a 200 day moving average of $103.26. Walker & Dunlop has a fifty-two week low of $81.97 and a fifty-two week high of $118.19.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by ($0.18). Walker & Dunlop had a net margin of 9.55% and a return on equity of 9.64%. The firm had revenue of $341.45 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $316.82 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Walker & Dunlop will post 4.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Walker & Dunlop from $120.00 to $105.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th.

Walker & Dunlop Company Profile

Walker & Dunlop, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of commercial real estate and finance services. It operates through the following segments: Capital Markets, Servicing and Asset Management, and Corporate. The Capital Markets segment offers a comprehensive range of commercial real estate finance products to customers.