Royal Bank of Canada Reaffirms Sector Perform Rating for BankUnited (NYSE:BKU)

Royal Bank of Canada reissued their sector perform rating on shares of BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) in a research report report published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $37.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on BKU. Barclays increased their target price on BankUnited from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Wedbush increased their price objective on BankUnited from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Hovde Group increased their price objective on BankUnited from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on BankUnited from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on BankUnited from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BankUnited presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.40.

BankUnited Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of BKU stock opened at $34.59 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.59 billion, a PE ratio of 14.91 and a beta of 1.33. BankUnited has a 1-year low of $21.13 and a 1-year high of $39.51. The business has a 50-day moving average of $36.41 and a 200 day moving average of $32.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $515.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $258.65 million. BankUnited had a return on equity of 7.76% and a net margin of 8.41%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that BankUnited will post 2.86 earnings per share for the current year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 11th will be given a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 11th. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

Insider Transactions at BankUnited

In related news, Director William S. Rubenstein sold 7,864 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.57, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKU. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in BankUnited by 49.2% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,247,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $65,778,000 after buying an additional 740,896 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in BankUnited by 3,901.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 574,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,803,000 after buying an additional 559,720 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in BankUnited by 741.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,202,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $298,442,000 after purchasing an additional 332,567 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 3,658.4% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 325,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,537,000 after purchasing an additional 317,143 shares in the last quarter. 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.