Wedbush Brokers Lower Earnings Estimates for Walker & Dunlop

Walker & Dunlop, Inc. (NYSE:WD) – Equities researchers at Wedbush lowered their Q1 2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of Walker & Dunlop in a research report issued on Tuesday, February 18th. Wedbush analyst J. Mccanless now anticipates that the financial services provider will post earnings per share of $0.25 for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $0.38. The consensus estimate for Walker & Dunlop’s current full-year earnings is $4.97 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for Walker & Dunlop’s Q3 2025 earnings at $1.25 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $1.78 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $3.69 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $4.15 EPS.

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

Walker & Dunlop Trading Down 3.3 %

Shares of WD opened at $83.17 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $94.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $103.61. Walker & Dunlop has a 1 year low of $82.97 and a 1 year high of $118.19. The stock has a market cap of $2.81 billion, a PE ratio of 26.07 and a beta of 1.55.

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The financial services provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by ($0.18). Walker & Dunlop had a return on equity of 9.64% and a net margin of 9.55%. The company had revenue of $341.45 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $316.82 million.

Walker & Dunlop Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. This is a positive change from Walker & Dunlop’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. Walker & Dunlop’s payout ratio is 81.50%.

Institutional Trading of Walker & Dunlop

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WD. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in Walker & Dunlop by 456.4% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 306 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Walker & Dunlop by 1,295.8% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position 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 during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Walker & Dunlop by 230.8% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new position in Walker & Dunlop during the fourth quarter worth approximately $96,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.97% of the company’s stock.

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.