BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $41.35 and last traded at $41.34, with a volume of 50792 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $39.78.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of BankUnited from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $37.00 price objective on shares of BankUnited in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Hovde Group lifted their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of BankUnited from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $38.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.40.

BankUnited Trading Up 0.9 %

The firm has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a PE ratio of 16.67 and a beta of 1.33. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $36.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $515.24 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $258.65 million. BankUnited had a net margin of 9.06% and a return on equity of 8.09%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BankUnited, Inc. will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, October 11th were issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 11th. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Thomas M. Cornish sold 10,778 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,911,000. The trade was a 9.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of BankUnited

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BKU. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 6.8% in the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 12,632 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $354,000 after purchasing an additional 807 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BankUnited in the first quarter valued at about $57,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 0.8% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 112,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,160,000 after purchasing an additional 906 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 7.4% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 15,002 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $420,000 after purchasing an additional 1,031 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 48.2% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 31,481 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,000 after purchasing an additional 10,240 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.