BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $53.5455.

BKU has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of BankUnited in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Susquehanna upgraded BankUnited to a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on BankUnited from $48.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Hovde Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $51.00 target price on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Monday, December 8th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BankUnited news, Director Sanjiv Sobti sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.88, for a total transaction of $254,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $957,358.08. This represents a 20.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jay D. Richards sold 3,506 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.83, for a total transaction of $174,703.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 35,687 shares in the company, valued at $1,778,283.21. The trade was a 8.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BankUnited

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in BankUnited by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,632,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $206,472,000 after buying an additional 36,097 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of BankUnited by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,437,792 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $197,792,000 after acquiring an additional 149,450 shares during the period. HoldCo Asset Management LP increased its holdings in BankUnited by 277.3% in the 4th quarter. HoldCo Asset Management LP now owns 3,535,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $157,568,000 after acquiring an additional 2,598,382 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of BankUnited by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,155,793 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $140,654,000 after purchasing an additional 84,971 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BankUnited by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,163,936 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $82,576,000 after buying an additional 185,937 shares in the last quarter. 99.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BankUnited Stock Up 0.3%

BKU stock opened at $47.35 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.38 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. BankUnited has a 1-year low of $28.21 and a 1-year high of $52.11. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $47.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.76.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.09. BankUnited had a net margin of 14.14% and a return on equity of 9.09%. The business had revenue of $260.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $279.76 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that BankUnited will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th were issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 9th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.03%.

BankUnited Company Profile

BankUnited, Inc is a bank holding company based in Miami Lakes, Florida, operating through its subsidiary BankUnited, National Association. The company provides a broad range of commercial banking products and services, including deposit accounts, commercial lending and treasury management. It serves middle-market and small-business clients, offering tailored financing solutions across a variety of industry sectors.

The bank’s lending portfolio includes commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate loans and construction financing, as well as residential mortgage lending.