BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports. Zacks Research also issued estimates for BankUnited’s FY2026 earnings at $4.28 EPS.

BKU has been the topic of a number of other reports. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of BankUnited from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of BankUnited from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on BankUnited from $53.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on BankUnited from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Hovde Group reduced their target price on BankUnited from $57.00 to $53.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.27.

BankUnited Stock Performance

Shares of BankUnited stock opened at $49.20 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.70 and a beta of 1.17. BankUnited has a 52 week low of $34.50 and a 52 week high of $52.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $46.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.54.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $273.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $284.57 million. BankUnited had a return on equity of 9.11% and a net margin of 14.46%.During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.78 EPS. Research analysts forecast that BankUnited will post 4.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th were issued a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 10th. This is a positive change from BankUnited’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BankUnited

In other BankUnited news, Director John N. Digiacomo sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.97, for a total transaction of $45,970.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 15,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $690,791.19. This trade represents a 6.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jay D. Richards sold 4,000 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.67, for a total transaction of $194,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 40,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,971,232.34. This represents a 8.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BankUnited

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BKU. HoldCo Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of BankUnited during the third quarter worth about $35,752,000. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new stake in BankUnited in the third quarter valued at about $7,599,000. Jain Global LLC purchased a new stake in BankUnited in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $11,224,000. Artemis Investment Management LLP purchased a new stake in BankUnited in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $73,655,000. Finally, Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC purchased a new stake in BankUnited in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $4,648,000. 99.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About BankUnited

BankUnited, Inc is a bank holding company based in Miami Lakes, Florida, operating through its subsidiary BankUnited, National Association. The company provides a broad range of commercial banking products and services, including deposit accounts, commercial lending and treasury management. It serves middle-market and small-business clients, offering tailored financing solutions across a variety of industry sectors.

The bank’s lending portfolio includes commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate loans and construction financing, as well as residential mortgage lending.