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

BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) has received a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the ten research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $34.40.

BKU has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of BankUnited from $30.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Hovde Group increased their price target on shares of BankUnited from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of BankUnited from $34.50 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped 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.

Insider Buying and Selling at BankUnited

In other BankUnited news, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 43,654 shares in the company, valued at $1,593,371. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other BankUnited news, Director William S. Rubenstein sold 7,864 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 10,282 shares in the company, valued at $396,576.74. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $1,593,371. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,507 shares of company stock worth $802,400 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. WINTON GROUP Ltd grew its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 0.9% in the second quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 34,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,012,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 1.9% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 20,821 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $609,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 1.0% in the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 48,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,405,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 2.2% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 37,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,101,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 6.8% in the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 12,632 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $354,000 after purchasing an additional 807 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

BankUnited Price Performance

NYSE BKU opened at $35.81 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.68 billion, a PE ratio of 15.44 and a beta of 1.35. BankUnited has a 52 week low of $20.84 and a 52 week high of $39.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.25.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $243.65 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict 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 was paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 12th were given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 12th. BankUnited’s payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

BankUnited Company Profile

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.