Royal Bank of Canada Boosts BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Price Target to $43.00

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) had its price target increased by Royal Bank of Canada from $42.00 to $43.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a sector perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on BankUnited from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Compass Point raised their price target on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on BankUnited from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on BankUnited from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.40.

BankUnited Stock Performance

NYSE:BKU opened at $39.90 on Thursday. BankUnited has a twelve month low of $24.34 and a twelve month high of $44.45. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a PE ratio of 16.35 and a beta of 1.38.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.19. BankUnited had a net margin of 9.06% and a return on equity of 8.09%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that BankUnited will post 2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. BankUnited’s payout ratio is presently 47.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BankUnited news, insider Jay D. Richards sold 2,500 shares of the business’s 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 owns 34,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,428,410.66. The trade was a 6.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas M. Cornish sold 10,778 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.11, for a total transaction of $421,527.58. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. 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

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKU. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in BankUnited by 182.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 547 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of BankUnited in the fourth quarter valued at about $113,000. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 87.8% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,028 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $154,000 after purchasing an additional 1,883 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of BankUnited by 118.3% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $153,000 after purchasing an additional 2,280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in BankUnited by 17.4% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $169,000 after purchasing an additional 686 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

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.