Wells Fargo & Company Boosts BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Price Target to $50.00

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) had its price target raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $48.00 to $50.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on BKU. Compass Point boosted their price target on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on BankUnited from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays dropped their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on BankUnited from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $37.00 target price on shares of BankUnited in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.40.

BankUnited Stock Performance

NYSE:BKU opened at $40.80 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $39.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.63. BankUnited has a 1-year low of $24.34 and a 1-year high of $44.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.25 and a beta of 1.38.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.19. BankUnited had a return on equity of 8.48% and a net margin of 11.48%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.26 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that BankUnited will post 3 EPS for the current year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 10th. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Thomas M. Cornish sold 10,778 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,911,000. This trade represents a 9.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jay D. Richards sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 34,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,428,410.66. This trade 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 corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BankUnited

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in BankUnited by 182.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of BankUnited in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $113,000. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of BankUnited by 118.3% during 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 last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 87.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,028 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $154,000 after purchasing an additional 1,883 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in BankUnited in the 2nd quarter valued at $169,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

BankUnited Company Profile

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.