BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) Receives Average Recommendation of “Reduce” from Brokerages

BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) has been assigned an average rating of “Reduce” from the ten brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $35.80.

BKU has been the topic of several analyst reports. Hovde Group lifted their price target on shares of BankUnited from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of BankUnited from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of BankUnited from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of BankUnited from $34.50 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of BankUnited from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday.

BankUnited Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BKU opened at $35.24 on Wednesday. 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 1-year low of $20.84 and a 1-year high of $39.51. The company has a market capitalization of $2.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.19 and a beta of 1.33. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.33.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.72 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $250.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $243.65 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that BankUnited will post 2.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, October 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 11th. BankUnited’s payout ratio is 50.00%.

Insider Activity at BankUnited

In related news, Director William S. Rubenstein sold 7,864 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.57, for a total transaction of $303,314.48. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $396,576.74. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director William S. Rubenstein sold 7,864 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.57, for a total transaction of $303,314.48. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $396,576.74. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.50, for a total transaction of $127,750.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 43,654 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,593,371. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,507 shares of company stock valued at $802,400 over the last 90 days. 1.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BKU. CWM LLC increased its position in BankUnited by 307.6% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 1,455 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in BankUnited during the first quarter valued at $57,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in BankUnited during the second quarter valued at $74,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in BankUnited during the second quarter valued at $169,000. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new position in BankUnited during the second quarter valued at $175,000. 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.