Reviewing Walker & Dunlop (WD) & Its Competitors

Walker & Dunlop (NYSE:WD) is one of 334 public companies in the “Financial Services” industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare Walker & Dunlop to related businesses based on the strength of its profitability, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Walker & Dunlop and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Walker & Dunlop	1	0	5	0	2.67
Walker & Dunlop Competitors	1931	6949	11710	447	2.51

Walker & Dunlop currently has a consensus target price of $59.25, suggesting a potential upside of 54.72%. As a group, “Financial Services” companies have a potential downside of 5.28%. Given Walker & Dunlop’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Walker & Dunlop is more favorable than its peers.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

81.0% of Walker & Dunlop shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 43.5% of shares of all “Financial Services” companies are owned by institutional investors. 4.0% of Walker & Dunlop shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 21.9% of shares of all “Financial Services” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Walker & Dunlop pays an annual dividend of $2.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.1%. Walker & Dunlop pays out -269.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Financial Services” companies pay a dividend yield of 4.1% and pay out -85.8% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Walker & Dunlop has raised its dividend for 7 consecutive years. Walker & Dunlop is clearly a better dividend stock than its peers, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

This table compares Walker & Dunlop and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Walker & Dunlop	-2.64%	6.66%	2.24%
Walker & Dunlop Competitors	-259.04%	-39.95%	-4.73%

Volatility & Risk

Walker & Dunlop has a beta of 1.48, suggesting that its stock price is 48% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Walker & Dunlop’s peers have a beta of 2.40, suggesting that their average stock price is 140% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Walker & Dunlop and its peers gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Walker & Dunlop	$1.23 billion	$57.08 million	-37.92
Walker & Dunlop Competitors	$6.95 billion	$1.14 billion	8.62

Walker & Dunlop’s peers have higher revenue and earnings than Walker & Dunlop. Walker & Dunlop is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Summary

Walker & Dunlop beats its peers on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

About Walker & Dunlop

Walker & Dunlop, Inc. is a commercial real estate finance and advisory firm focused primarily on multifamily properties. It arranges debt and equity financing, provides investment sales and property valuation services, and offers capital markets and investment management services to property owners and investors. The company works with government-sponsored housing finance agencies, including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as well as the Federal Housing Administration, to provide financing options. Its services also include loan servicing and financing for other types of commercial real estate.