BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) Receives Average Rating of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) have received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the ten ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $35.80.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BKU. Barclays raised their price target on BankUnited from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on BankUnited from $34.50 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on BankUnited from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of BankUnited from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st.

Insider Buying and Selling at BankUnited

In other BankUnited news, insider Jay D. Richards sold 10,143 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 37,187 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,361,416.07. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director William S. Rubenstein sold 7,864 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.57, for a total transaction of $303,314.48. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $396,576.74. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jay D. Richards sold 10,143 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,361,416.07. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 21,507 shares of company stock worth $802,400. Insiders own 1.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BankUnited

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in BankUnited by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 935,237 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,330,000 after purchasing an additional 136,291 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of BankUnited by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,202,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $298,442,000 after buying an additional 332,567 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in BankUnited by 4.3% in the first quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 120,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,360,000 after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its position in BankUnited by 21.6% in the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,165 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $313,000 after acquiring an additional 1,985 shares during the period. Finally, Capstone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in BankUnited during the first quarter worth $489,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

BankUnited Stock Down 2.0 %

NYSE BKU opened at $37.06 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. BankUnited has a 52 week low of $21.02 and a 52 week high of $39.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.97 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a fifty day moving average of $36.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.13.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.07. BankUnited had a net margin of 8.41% and a return on equity of 7.76%. The company had revenue of $250.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $243.65 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that BankUnited will post 2.86 earnings per share for the current year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 11th. BankUnited’s payout ratio is 50.00%.

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.