Walker & Dunlop, Inc. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.65 (NYSE:WD)

Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 7th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a dividend of 0.65 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, December 6th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%.

Walker & Dunlop has raised its dividend payment by an average of 20.5% per year over the last three years. Walker & Dunlop has a dividend payout ratio of 52.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Walker & Dunlop to earn $5.44 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 47.8%.

Walker & Dunlop Price Performance

NYSE WD traded down $1.91 during trading on Thursday, hitting $110.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 323,781 shares, compared to its average volume of 203,184. Walker & Dunlop has a fifty-two week low of $68.88 and a fifty-two week high of $118.19. The company has a market cap of $3.75 billion, a PE ratio of 43.59 and a beta of 1.55. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $110.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $102.77.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The financial services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm 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 posted $0.98 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Walker & Dunlop will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walker & Dunlop

In other Walker & Dunlop news, COO Stephen P. Theobald sold 13,870 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.10, for a total value of $1,471,607.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 53,869 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,715,500.90. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 5.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WD has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Walker & Dunlop from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 11th. Wedbush lifted their price target on Walker & Dunlop from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Wolfe Research upgraded Walker & Dunlop to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target 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.

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.