BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) Given Average Recommendation of “Reduce” by Analysts

Shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) have been assigned an average rating of “Reduce” from the nine research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and seven have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $30.50.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BKU shares. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $33.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays started coverage on shares of BankUnited in a report on Friday, March 8th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $29.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 4th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BankUnited news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 2,285 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.18, for a total value of $62,106.30. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,750 shares in the company, valued at $319,365. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BankUnited

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BKU. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of BankUnited by 106.4% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,879 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $126,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of BankUnited during the fourth quarter valued at about $147,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of BankUnited during the fourth quarter valued at about $238,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of BankUnited by 214,050.0% during the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $278,000 after buying an additional 8,562 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of BankUnited by 16.4% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 10,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $231,000 after buying an additional 1,434 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

BankUnited Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BKU opened at $27.26 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $26.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.92. BankUnited has a one year low of $15.83 and a one year high of $34.22. The company has a market cap of $2.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.75 and a beta of 1.36.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.02. BankUnited had a net margin of 8.71% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm had revenue of $508.35 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $239.84 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.70 EPS. Analysts anticipate that BankUnited will post 2.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th will be given a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.26%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. This is a boost from BankUnited’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.