BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued an overweight rating and a $44.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on BKU. Citigroup raised their target price on BankUnited from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $43.00 price objective (up previously from $41.00) on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on BankUnited from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of BankUnited from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of BankUnited in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.75.

BankUnited Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE BKU opened at $38.61 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. BankUnited has a twelve month low of $28.21 and a twelve month high of $44.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a PE ratio of 11.32 and a beta of 1.29. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $37.75 and its 200 day moving average is $35.27.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $273.93 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $267.17 million. BankUnited had a return on equity of 9.00% and a net margin of 13.19%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.72 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that BankUnited will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 11th were issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 11th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. BankUnited’s payout ratio is currently 36.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jay D. Richards sold 3,942 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.81, for a total value of $152,989.02. Following the transaction, the insider owned 39,193 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,521,080.33. The trade was a 9.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 3,500 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.79, for a total transaction of $135,765.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 43,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,675,921.95. The trade was a 7.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BankUnited

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of BankUnited by 32.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 562,417 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,467,000 after buying an additional 136,343 shares in the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of BankUnited during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,032,000. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in shares of BankUnited by 36.8% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 79,257 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,025,000 after buying an additional 21,321 shares in the last quarter. Ethic Inc. lifted its position in shares of BankUnited by 25.6% during the 4th quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 10,167 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $388,000 after buying an additional 2,075 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of BankUnited by 29.2% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 286,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,933,000 after buying an additional 64,803 shares in the last quarter. 99.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.