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

Shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) have been given an average rating of “Reduce” by the ten brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $34.40.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BankUnited news, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 3,500 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.50, for a total transaction of $127,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 43,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,593,371. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other BankUnited news, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 3,500 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.50, for a total transaction of $127,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 43,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,593,371. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director William S. Rubenstein sold 7,864 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.57, for a total value of $303,314.48. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $396,576.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,507 shares of company stock valued at $802,400. 1.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BankUnited

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. WINTON GROUP Ltd raised its holdings in BankUnited by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 34,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,012,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in BankUnited by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 20,821 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $609,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in BankUnited by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 48,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,405,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its stake in BankUnited by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 37,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,101,000 after buying an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC increased its stake in BankUnited by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 12,632 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $354,000 after buying an additional 807 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

BankUnited Stock Performance

NYSE:BKU opened at $38.43 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. BankUnited has a 12-month low of $20.84 and a 12-month high of $39.51. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $34.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.56 and a beta of 1.35.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $250.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $243.65 million. BankUnited had a return on equity of 7.76% and a net margin of 8.41%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.78 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that BankUnited will post 2.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 12th were given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 12th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.02%. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

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.