BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) Announces $0.29 Quarterly Dividend

BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, December 26th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of 0.29 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th.

BankUnited has increased its dividend payment by an average of 5.6% annually over the last three years. BankUnited has a payout ratio of 36.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect BankUnited to earn $3.00 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.16 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 38.7%.

BankUnited Stock Performance

NYSE:BKU opened at $38.41 on Friday. BankUnited has a fifty-two week low of $24.34 and a fifty-two week high of $44.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $39.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The company has a market cap of $2.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.74 and a beta of 1.36.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.07. BankUnited had a net margin of 9.06% and a return on equity of 8.09%. The company had revenue of $515.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $258.65 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that BankUnited will post 2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on BKU shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of BankUnited from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays lowered their price objective on BankUnited from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Compass Point raised their target price on BankUnited from $42.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup dropped their price target on BankUnited from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $37.00 price objective on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BankUnited has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.36.

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.