BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Research Coverage Started at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued an overweight rating and a $44.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock.

BKU has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on BankUnited from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on BankUnited from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded BankUnited from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on BankUnited in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a “hold” rating and a $39.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on BankUnited from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.75.

BankUnited Price Performance

NYSE:BKU opened at $39.29 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.28. The company has a market cap of $2.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.52 and a beta of 1.29. BankUnited has a 52-week low of $28.21 and a 52-week high of $44.45.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last released its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BankUnited will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at BankUnited

In other news, insider Jay D. Richards sold 3,942 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was 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 approximately $1,521,080.33. This represents a 9.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.79, for a total value of $135,765.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 43,205 shares in the company, valued at $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 corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BankUnited

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BKU. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of BankUnited by 31.7% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,464 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $257,000 after buying an additional 1,798 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BankUnited by 2.7% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 372,237 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,820,000 after buying an additional 9,750 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of BankUnited in the first quarter valued at approximately $585,000. Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of BankUnited in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,398,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of BankUnited by 36.8% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,059,697 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,496,000 after buying an additional 285,092 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

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.