BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the ten research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $42.60.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on BKU shares. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on BankUnited from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays reduced their price target on BankUnited from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on BankUnited from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Compass Point upped their target price on BankUnited from $42.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th.

BankUnited Stock Performance

NYSE BKU opened at $38.36 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.72 and a beta of 1.38. BankUnited has a fifty-two week low of $24.34 and a fifty-two week high of $44.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.07. BankUnited had a return on equity of 8.09% and a net margin of 9.06%. The firm had revenue of $515.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $258.65 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that BankUnited will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. BankUnited’s payout ratio is 47.54%.

Insider Activity

In other BankUnited news, insider Jay D. Richards sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.18, for a total transaction of $102,950.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 34,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,428,410.66. The trade was a 6.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas M. Cornish sold 10,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.11, for a total value of $421,527.58. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,911,000. This trade represents a 9.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in BankUnited by 1.0% during the second 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. Wolverine Asset Management LLC grew its position in BankUnited by 60.9% in the second quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 8,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $257,000 after acquiring an additional 3,327 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in BankUnited by 171.8% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 294,619 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,623,000 after acquiring an additional 186,225 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in BankUnited by 1.9% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 20,821 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $609,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the period. Finally, Choreo LLC acquired a new position in shares of BankUnited in the 2nd quarter valued at $441,000. 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.