Wells Fargo & Company Boosts BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Price Target to $50.00

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) had its price target hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $48.00 to $50.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on BKU. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of BankUnited from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Compass Point raised their price target on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $37.00 price objective on shares of BankUnited in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, 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 note on Tuesday, November 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BankUnited presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.40.

BankUnited Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of BankUnited stock opened at $39.90 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.49. The stock has a market cap of $2.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.35 and a beta of 1.38. BankUnited has a 1-year low of $24.34 and a 1-year high of $44.45.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.19. BankUnited had a return on equity of 8.09% and a net margin of 9.06%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.26 EPS. Analysts predict that BankUnited will post 2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. 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%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BankUnited news, 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas M. Cornish sold 10,778 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was 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 $3,911,000. This represents a 9.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BankUnited

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKU. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of BankUnited by 49.2% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,247,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $65,778,000 after acquiring an additional 740,896 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in BankUnited by 3,901.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 574,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,803,000 after purchasing an additional 559,720 shares during the period. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in BankUnited in the 3rd quarter valued at about $17,745,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of BankUnited by 741.7% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 397,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,628,000 after buying an additional 350,071 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of BankUnited by 37.3% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 868,806 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,659,000 after buying an additional 236,174 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

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.