Wells Fargo & Company Boosts BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Price Target to $38.00

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) had its price target raised by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $35.00 to $38.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 8.08% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Hovde Group raised their target price on BankUnited from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. 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. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of BankUnited from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of BankUnited from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Wedbush upped their price objective on BankUnited from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.80.

BankUnited Price Performance

BKU stock traded down $1.28 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $35.16. The stock had a trading volume of 677,073 shares, compared to its average volume of 804,722. BankUnited has a 52-week low of $20.84 and a 52-week high of $39.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.33. The company has a market cap of $2.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.18 and a beta of 1.33.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $250.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $243.65 million. BankUnited had a net margin of 8.41% and a return on equity of 7.76%. BankUnited’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.78 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that BankUnited will post 2.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at BankUnited

In other news, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 3,500 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.50, for a total value of $127,750.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 43,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,593,371. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other BankUnited news, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.50, for a total transaction of $127,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 43,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,593,371. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jay D. Richards sold 10,143 shares of the business’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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,187 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,361,416.07. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 21,507 shares of company stock worth $802,400. 1.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of BankUnited

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in BankUnited during the second quarter worth about $169,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 741.7% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 397,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,628,000 after buying an additional 350,071 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC boosted its stake in shares of BankUnited by 7.2% in the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 249,183 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,294,000 after buying an additional 16,751 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in BankUnited by 7.2% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 41,438 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,213,000 after acquiring an additional 2,778 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its position in BankUnited by 49.2% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,247,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $65,778,000 after acquiring an additional 740,896 shares in the last quarter. 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.