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

Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 13th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of 0.67 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This is an increase from Walker & Dunlop's previous quarterly dividend of $0.65.

Walker & Dunlop has raised its dividend payment by an average of 9.1% per year over the last three years. Walker & Dunlop has a payout ratio of 46.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Walker & Dunlop to earn $4.76 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 56.3%.

Walker & Dunlop Stock Performance

NYSE WD traded down $1.59 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $84.85. The company had a trading volume of 28,140 shares, compared to its average volume of 190,553. Walker & Dunlop has a 1-year low of $84.51 and a 1-year high of $118.19. The company has a market cap of $2.87 billion, a PE ratio of 30.33 and a beta of 1.55. The business has a 50 day moving average of $95.86 and a 200-day moving average of $103.99.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD - Get Free Report) 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 8.91% and a return on equity of 9.81%. The business had revenue of $341.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $316.82 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Walker & Dunlop will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Walker & Dunlop from $120.00 to $105.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday.

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.