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

BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) has earned an average rating of “Reduce” from the ten brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $34.40.

A number of brokerages recently commented on BKU. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on BankUnited from $34.50 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Wedbush raised their price objective on BankUnited from $30.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on BankUnited from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Hovde Group raised their price objective on BankUnited from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on BankUnited from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th.

BankUnited Stock Performance

Shares of BKU stock opened at $35.81 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $35.24 and a 200 day moving average of $30.25. BankUnited has a 52 week low of $20.84 and a 52 week high of $39.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.44 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.07. BankUnited had a return on equity of 7.76% and a net margin of 8.41%. The company had revenue of $250.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $243.65 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that BankUnited will post 2.88 earnings per share for the current year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Investors of record on Friday, July 12th were issued a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 12th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. BankUnited’s payout ratio is 50.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jay D. Richards sold 10,143 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.61, for a total value of $371,335.23. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,187 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,361,416.07. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other BankUnited news, insider Jay D. Richards sold 10,143 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.61, for a total transaction of $371,335.23. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,187 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,361,416.07. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.50, for a total value of $127,750.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 43,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,593,371. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,507 shares of company stock worth $802,400. 1.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BankUnited

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of BankUnited by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 632,632 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,517,000 after purchasing an additional 48,059 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in BankUnited by 38.9% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 226,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,354,000 after purchasing an additional 63,520 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in BankUnited in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,329,000. Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in BankUnited by 41.8% in the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 179,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,810,000 after purchasing an additional 52,788 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in BankUnited by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,202,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $298,442,000 after purchasing an additional 332,567 shares in the last quarter. 99.70% of the stock is currently owned by 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.