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

BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the ten brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $37.40.

Several research firms recently weighed in on BKU. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of BankUnited from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Citigroup cut their target price on BankUnited from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded BankUnited from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $38.00 to $48.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on BankUnited from $34.50 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $37.00 target price on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Insider Transactions at BankUnited

In related news, COO Thomas M. Cornish sold 10,778 shares of the company’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 transaction of $421,527.58. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,911,000. This represents a 9.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BankUnited

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. WINTON GROUP Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 0.9% in the second quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 34,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,012,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in BankUnited by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 20,821 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $609,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in BankUnited by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 48,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,405,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in BankUnited by 17.4% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $169,000 after buying an additional 686 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of BankUnited by 2.2% during the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 37,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,101,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

BankUnited Stock Performance

Shares of BankUnited stock opened at $41.14 on Thursday. BankUnited has a 52 week low of $24.34 and a 52 week high of $41.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $36.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.78. The company has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a PE ratio of 16.86 and a beta of 1.33.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. BankUnited had a return on equity of 8.09% and a net margin of 9.06%. The business had revenue of $515.24 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $258.65 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.63 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that BankUnited will post 2.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 11th were issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 11th. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.54%.

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.