BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) Increases Dividend to $0.31 Per Share

BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, March 26th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a dividend of 0.31 per share by the financial services provider on Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.50%. This is a 6.9% increase from BankUnited’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29.

BankUnited has increased its dividend by an average of 8.0% per year over the last three years. BankUnited has a dividend payout ratio of 31.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect BankUnited to earn $3.41 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.16 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 34.0%.

BankUnited Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BKU opened at $35.44 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.88. BankUnited has a 1 year low of $24.34 and a 1 year high of $44.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.65 billion, a PE ratio of 11.51 and a beta of 1.40. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $37.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.03.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last announced 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 net margin of 11.48% and a return on equity of 8.48%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.26 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that BankUnited will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BKU. Piper Sandler raised shares of BankUnited from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $41.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on BankUnited from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on BankUnited from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Compass Point lifted their price target on BankUnited from $42.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of BankUnited from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BankUnited has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.45.

Insider Transactions at BankUnited

In related news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,234 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.18, for a total transaction of $113,772.12. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,955. This represents a 20.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Sanjiv Sobti purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $32.83 per share, with a total value of $32,830.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 21,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $715,103.06. The trade was a 4.81 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.19% 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.