BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the ten brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $42.60.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BKU. Wedbush increased their target price on BankUnited from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Barclays reduced their target price on BankUnited from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of BankUnited from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $38.00 to $48.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Compass Point raised their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $37.00 target price on shares of BankUnited in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd.

BankUnited Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of BKU stock opened at $38.54 on Friday. BankUnited has a fifty-two week low of $24.34 and a fifty-two week high of $44.45. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $39.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.77. The stock has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.80 and a beta of 1.38. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $515.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $258.65 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that BankUnited will post 2.89 EPS for the current year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Thomas M. Cornish sold 10,778 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,911,000. This represents a 9.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jay D. Richards sold 2,500 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.18, for a total transaction of $102,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 34,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,428,410.66. This represents a 6.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BankUnited

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in BankUnited during the 2nd quarter worth $74,000. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in BankUnited by 118.3% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $153,000 after purchasing an additional 2,280 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in BankUnited by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $169,000 after buying an additional 686 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in BankUnited during the 3rd quarter valued at about $181,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of BankUnited during the 2nd quarter worth about $169,000. 99.70% of the stock is 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.