Hovde Group Issues Pessimistic Forecast for BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Stock Price

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) had its price target cut by equities research analysts at Hovde Group from $46.00 to $44.00 in a report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Hovde Group’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 24.14% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on BKU. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of BankUnited from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler raised shares of BankUnited from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $41.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on BankUnited from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, BankUnited currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.45.

BankUnited Price Performance

BankUnited stock opened at $35.44 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.51 and a beta of 1.40. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $37.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.03. BankUnited has a 12-month low of $24.34 and a 12-month high of $44.45.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.19. BankUnited had a return on equity of 8.48% and a net margin of 11.48%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that BankUnited will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BankUnited news, Director Sanjiv Sobti acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $32.83 per share, for a total transaction of $32,830.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 21,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $715,103.06. This trade represents a 4.81 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,234 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.18, for a total value of $113,772.12. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $430,955. This represents a 20.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of BKU. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in BankUnited during the fourth quarter worth $34,525,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of BankUnited during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,499,000. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC acquired a new position in shares of BankUnited during the fourth quarter valued at about $18,663,000. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of BankUnited in the third quarter valued at about $17,745,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in BankUnited by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,821,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $107,696,000 after buying an additional 322,368 shares in the last quarter. 99.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.