BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” from Analysts

Shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) have earned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the ten brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $35.10.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BKU. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Hovde Group increased their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd.

BankUnited Price Performance

Shares of BKU opened at $36.31 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.65 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $36.64 and a 200 day moving average of $31.09. BankUnited has a twelve month low of $20.84 and a twelve month high of $39.51.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.07. BankUnited had a net margin of 8.41% and a return on equity of 7.76%. The business had revenue of $250.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $243.65 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that BankUnited will post 2.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at BankUnited

In other BankUnited news, insider Jay D. Richards sold 10,143 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.61, for a total value of $371,335.23. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,187 shares in the company, valued at $1,361,416.07. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other BankUnited news, Director William S. Rubenstein sold 7,864 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.57, for a total value of $303,314.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $396,576.74. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jay D. Richards sold 10,143 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.61, for a total transaction of $371,335.23. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,361,416.07. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,507 shares of company stock worth $802,400 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BankUnited

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. CWM LLC grew its stake in BankUnited by 307.6% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 1,455 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in BankUnited in the 1st quarter valued at about $57,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in BankUnited in the 2nd quarter valued at about $74,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in BankUnited in the 2nd quarter valued at about $169,000. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in BankUnited in the 2nd quarter valued at about $175,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

About BankUnited

BankUnited, Inc operates as the bank holding company for BankUnited, a national banking association that provides a range of banking services in the United States. The company offers deposit products, such as checking, money market deposit, and savings accounts; certificates of deposit; and treasury, commercial payment, and cash management services.