Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Stock

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) had its target price lifted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $38.00 to $45.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $37.00 target price on shares of BankUnited in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup cut their target price on BankUnited from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Barclays lifted their price target on BankUnited from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised BankUnited from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $38.00 to $48.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.70.

BankUnited Price Performance

Shares of BKU opened at $41.70 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $38.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $34.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. BankUnited has a twelve month low of $24.34 and a twelve month high of $44.45. The company has a market cap of $3.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.09 and a beta of 1.36.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $515.24 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $258.65 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.63 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that BankUnited will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 11th were issued a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 11th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.78%. BankUnited’s payout ratio is 47.54%.

Insider Transactions at BankUnited

In other news, COO Thomas M. Cornish sold 10,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.11, for a total transaction of $421,527.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,911,000. This represents a 9.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jay D. Richards sold 2,500 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.18, for a total transaction of $102,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,687 shares in the company, valued at $1,428,410.66. This represents a 6.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.19% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BankUnited

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of BankUnited by 49.2% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,247,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $65,778,000 after purchasing an additional 740,896 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of BankUnited by 3,901.0% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 574,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,803,000 after acquiring an additional 559,720 shares in the last quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of BankUnited in the third quarter worth approximately $17,745,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of BankUnited by 741.7% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 397,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,628,000 after purchasing an additional 350,071 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in BankUnited by 3,658.4% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 325,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,537,000 after purchasing an additional 317,143 shares during the last quarter. 99.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BankUnited Company Profile

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.