BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Given New $55.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) had its price target increased by Wells Fargo & Company from $50.00 to $55.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial set a $55.00 price target on BankUnited in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Hovde Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $51.00 target price on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of BankUnited from $48.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of BankUnited from $47.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.00.

BankUnited Stock Performance

Shares of BankUnited stock opened at $44.18 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market cap of $3.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.48 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.53. BankUnited has a fifty-two week low of $28.21 and a fifty-two week high of $52.11.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $260.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $279.76 million. BankUnited had a return on equity of 9.09% and a net margin of 14.14%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that BankUnited will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be paid a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 10th. This is a positive change from BankUnited’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. BankUnited’s payout ratio is presently 35.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,447 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.11, for a total transaction of $162,388.17. Following the sale, the insider owned 11,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $541,765. This trade represents a 23.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jay D. Richards sold 3,506 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.83, for a total value of $174,703.98. Following the transaction, the insider owned 35,687 shares in the company, valued at $1,778,283.21. This trade represents a 8.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 11,953 shares of company stock worth $591,492 over the last ninety days. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BankUnited

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BKU. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in BankUnited by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,632,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $206,472,000 after acquiring an additional 36,097 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in BankUnited by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,437,792 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $197,792,000 after purchasing an additional 149,450 shares in the last quarter. HoldCo Asset Management LP raised its stake in shares of BankUnited by 277.3% in the 4th quarter. HoldCo Asset Management LP now owns 3,535,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $157,568,000 after purchasing an additional 2,598,382 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of BankUnited by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,155,793 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $140,654,000 after purchasing an additional 84,971 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted 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. Institutional investors own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

BankUnited Company Profile

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.