BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $40.55.

Several equities research analysts have commented on BKU shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of BankUnited from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Hovde Group cut their price target on shares of BankUnited from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Piper Sandler raised shares of BankUnited from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $41.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of BankUnited from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,234 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.18, for a total value of $113,772.12. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,955. This represents a 20.89% decrease in their position. The sale 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 bought at an average price of $32.83 per share, for a total transaction of $32,830.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 21,782 shares in the company, valued at $715,103.06. The trade was a 4.81% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in BankUnited by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,598,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $366,392,000 after buying an additional 181,493 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in BankUnited by 12.9% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,821,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $107,696,000 after buying an additional 322,368 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in BankUnited by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,849,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,689,000 after buying an additional 107,962 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in BankUnited by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,461,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $50,332,000 after buying an additional 53,905 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royce & Associates LP grew its stake in BankUnited by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,250,997 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,084,000 after buying an additional 101,170 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

BankUnited Trading Up 0.8%

BKU opened at $36.10 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.72 and a beta of 1.29. BankUnited has a 12 month low of $26.78 and a 12 month high of $44.45. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. BankUnited had a net margin of 11.48% and a return on equity of 8.48%. The firm had revenue of $255.41 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $264.35 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that BankUnited will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th were issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. This is a boost from BankUnited’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 11th. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.51%.

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.