BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the eleven ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $41.45.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of BankUnited from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $38.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. 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 report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wedbush increased their target price on BankUnited from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on BankUnited from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Compass Point increased their price objective on BankUnited from $42.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BankUnited news, COO Thomas M. Cornish sold 10,778 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now 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 at the SEC website. Also, insider Jay D. Richards sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 34,687 shares in the company, valued at $1,428,410.66. The trade was a 6.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of BankUnited by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 632,632 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,517,000 after buying an additional 48,059 shares during the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC bought a new stake in BankUnited in the second quarter valued at $799,000. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in BankUnited during the 3rd quarter valued at $443,000. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in BankUnited during the 2nd quarter valued at $515,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in BankUnited by 211.5% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 59,594 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,172,000 after purchasing an additional 40,461 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

BankUnited Trading Down 0.3 %

BankUnited stock opened at $40.55 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. BankUnited has a fifty-two week low of $24.34 and a fifty-two week high of $44.45. The stock has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.62 and a beta of 1.36. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $38.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.49.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $515.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $258.65 million. BankUnited had a return on equity of 8.09% and a net margin of 9.06%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that BankUnited will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 11th were given a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 11th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. BankUnited’s payout ratio is currently 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.