BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Upgraded at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has $48.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $38.00.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Hovde Group lifted their target price on shares of BankUnited from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Barclays boosted their price objective on BankUnited from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on BankUnited from $34.50 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Wedbush lifted their target price on BankUnited from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on BankUnited from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.40.

BankUnited Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE BKU opened at $40.71 on Wednesday. BankUnited has a 12 month low of $24.34 and a 12 month high of $41.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a PE ratio of 16.68 and a beta of 1.33. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $36.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.60.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.07. BankUnited had a net margin of 9.06% and a return on equity of 8.09%. The business had revenue of $515.24 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $258.65 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. On average, analysts expect that BankUnited will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at BankUnited

In other news, COO Thomas M. Cornish sold 10,778 shares of BankUnited 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,911,000. This trade represents a 9.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BankUnited

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. WINTON GROUP Ltd increased its holdings in BankUnited by 0.9% during 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 in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in BankUnited by 1.9% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 20,821 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $609,000 after buying an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in BankUnited by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 48,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,405,000 after buying an additional 497 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in BankUnited by 17.4% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $169,000 after acquiring an additional 686 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.