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

BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eleven ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $41.36.

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of BankUnited from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $38.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $37.00 target price on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays decreased their price target on BankUnited from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup cut their price objective on BankUnited from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Compass Point increased their price target on BankUnited from $42.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th.

BankUnited Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE BKU opened at $37.92 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.83 billion, a PE ratio of 15.54 and a beta of 1.36. BankUnited has a 1-year low of $24.34 and a 1-year high of $44.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.40.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $515.24 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $258.65 million. BankUnited had a return on equity of 8.09% and a net margin of 9.06%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.63 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that BankUnited will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.54%.

Insider Activity at BankUnited

In other news, insider Jay D. Richards sold 2,500 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.18, for a total transaction of $102,950.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 34,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,428,410.66. This trade represents a 6.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas M. Cornish sold 10,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.11, for a total value of $421,527.58. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,911,000. This represents a 9.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BankUnited

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Denali Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of BankUnited in the 2nd quarter worth about $799,000. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in BankUnited in the third quarter valued at about $443,000. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in BankUnited during the second quarter worth about $515,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 211.5% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 59,594 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,172,000 after buying an additional 40,461 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC bought a new position in shares of BankUnited in the third quarter valued at approximately $347,000. 99.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BankUnited Company Profile

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.