BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Price Target Raised to $38.00

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) had its price objective hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $35.00 to $38.00 in a research note published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Barclays increased their price target on BankUnited from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Citigroup dropped their target price 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. 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 note on Tuesday, September 24th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $34.50 to $41.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, BankUnited presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $35.80.

BankUnited Stock Performance

Shares of BKU stock opened at $34.88 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.61 billion, a PE ratio of 15.03 and a beta of 1.33. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $36.50 and a 200-day moving average of $31.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. BankUnited has a one year low of $20.84 and a one year high of $39.51.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $243.65 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that BankUnited will post 2.88 earnings per share for the current year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 11th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 11th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. BankUnited’s payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.50, for a total value of $127,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 43,654 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,593,371. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Jay D. Richards sold 10,143 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.61, for a total value of $371,335.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 37,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,361,416.07. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.50, for a total transaction of $127,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 43,654 shares in the company, valued at $1,593,371. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,507 shares of company stock valued at $802,400 in the last three months. 1.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BankUnited

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BKU. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 632,632 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,517,000 after acquiring an additional 48,059 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 38.9% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 226,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,354,000 after buying an additional 63,520 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 41.8% during the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 179,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,810,000 after buying an additional 52,788 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in BankUnited by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,202,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $298,442,000 after buying an additional 332,567 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new position in BankUnited in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,331,000. Institutional investors 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.