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

BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the twelve ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $46.00.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $44.00 price objective on shares of BankUnited in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of BankUnited in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Hovde Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $51.00 price objective on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of BankUnited from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of BankUnited in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $51.00 target price for the company.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BankUnited

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in BankUnited by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,596,455 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $175,400,000 after acquiring an additional 51,926 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 23.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,070,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $117,183,000 after purchasing an additional 576,843 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 9.4% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,163,936 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $82,576,000 after purchasing an additional 185,937 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in BankUnited by 0.8% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,776,183 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $63,223,000 after purchasing an additional 13,555 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC raised its stake in BankUnited by 20.9% during the third quarter. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC now owns 1,535,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $58,586,000 after purchasing an additional 265,439 shares in the last quarter. 99.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BankUnited Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BKU opened at $47.07 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.54 billion, a PE ratio of 13.26 and a beta of 1.30. BankUnited has a 1 year low of $28.21 and a 1 year high of $47.16. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $44.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.11. BankUnited had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 9.18%. The company had revenue of $275.68 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $280.33 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.81 EPS. BankUnited’s quarterly revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that BankUnited will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is 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 34.93%.

About BankUnited

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.