Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (WD) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.67 on March 14th

Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 13th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This is an increase from Walker & Dunlop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65.

Walker & Dunlop has increased its dividend by an average of 9.1% annually 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 Up 3.6 %

Shares of NYSE:WD opened at $85.06 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $93.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $103.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.87 billion, a PE ratio of 26.66 and a beta of 1.55. Walker & Dunlop has a twelve month low of $81.97 and a twelve month high of $118.19.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.52 by ($0.18). The company had revenue of $341.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $316.82 million. Walker & Dunlop had a return on equity of 9.64% and a net margin of 9.55%. Analysts expect that Walker & Dunlop will post 4.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Walker & Dunlop from $120.00 to $105.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th.

About Walker & Dunlop

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.