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

Shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) have been given an average rating of “Reduce” by the ten research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have given a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $35.80.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BKU. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of BankUnited from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of BankUnited from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Hovde Group lifted their price target on shares of BankUnited from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of BankUnited from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of BankUnited from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th.

BankUnited Trading Down 3.3 %

NYSE:BKU opened at $35.24 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $36.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.33. BankUnited has a 12 month low of $20.84 and a 12 month high of $39.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The stock has a market cap of $2.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.19 and a beta of 1.33.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.07. BankUnited had a net margin of 8.41% and a return on equity of 7.76%. The firm had revenue of $250.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $243.65 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.78 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that BankUnited will post 2.88 EPS for the current year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 11th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BankUnited

In other BankUnited news, insider Jay D. Richards sold 10,143 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.61, for a total transaction of $371,335.23. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,187 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,361,416.07. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director William S. Rubenstein sold 7,864 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.57, for a total value of $303,314.48. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,282 shares in the company, valued at $396,576.74. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jay D. Richards sold 10,143 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.61, for a total transaction of $371,335.23. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 37,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,361,416.07. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,507 shares of company stock worth $802,400. 1.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of BankUnited

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. US Bancorp DE grew its position in BankUnited by 3,330.0% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 23,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $763,000 after buying an additional 22,844 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its position in BankUnited by 313.6% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 98,399 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,191,000 after buying an additional 74,609 shares during the period. TFO Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in BankUnited by 214,050.0% during the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $278,000 after buying an additional 8,562 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its position in BankUnited by 41.8% during the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 179,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,810,000 after buying an additional 52,788 shares during the period. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new stake in BankUnited during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,331,000. 99.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.