Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Makes New Investment in Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new stake in Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 178,830 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $17,384,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in Walker & Dunlop by 42.2% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 391 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 230.8% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Walker & Dunlop by 33.6% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,607 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $156,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Walker & Dunlop in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $178,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Walker & Dunlop by 42.9% during the fourth quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $194,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Walker & Dunlop from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th.

Insider Activity at Walker & Dunlop

In other Walker & Dunlop news, CEO William M. Walker purchased 17,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $86.21 per share, for a total transaction of $1,508,675.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 411,271 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,455,672.91. The trade was a 4.44 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 3.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Walker & Dunlop Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WD opened at $84.00 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $88.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.27. Walker & Dunlop, Inc. has a 12-month low of $81.07 and a 12-month high of $118.19. The company has a market capitalization of $2.85 billion, a PE ratio of 26.33 and a beta of 1.63.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $1.34 EPS 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 company had revenue of $341.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $316.82 million. On average, analysts forecast that Walker & Dunlop, Inc. will post 4.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walker & Dunlop Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.67 dividend. This is an increase from Walker & Dunlop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. Walker & Dunlop’s payout ratio is presently 84.01%.

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.