BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Cut to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research cut shares of BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports. Zacks Research also issued estimates for BankUnited’s Q3 2026 earnings at $1.13 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $4.24 EPS.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen cut BankUnited from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on BankUnited from $48.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Barclays decreased their target price on BankUnited from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on BankUnited from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on BankUnited from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.82.

BankUnited Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of BKU stock opened at $46.86 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $46.48 and a 200-day moving average of $44.17. BankUnited has a 1-year low of $30.29 and a 1-year high of $52.11. The stock has a market cap of $3.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.24 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.09. BankUnited had a return on equity of 9.09% and a net margin of 14.14%.The business had revenue of $260.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $279.76 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that BankUnited will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th will be issued a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 10th. This is an increase from BankUnited’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BankUnited news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,447 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.11, for a total value of $162,388.17. Following the transaction, the insider owned 11,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $541,765. This represents a 23.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jay D. Richards sold 3,506 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.83, for a total value of $174,703.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 35,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,778,283.21. The trade was a 8.95% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,953 shares of company stock worth $591,492. Corporate insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKU. HoldCo Asset Management LP boosted its holdings in BankUnited by 277.3% in the fourth quarter. HoldCo Asset Management LP now owns 3,535,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $157,568,000 after acquiring an additional 2,598,382 shares in the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP bought a new position in shares of BankUnited in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $73,655,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 1,066.9% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,399,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,383,000 after purchasing an additional 1,279,712 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 398.0% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,170,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,164,000 after purchasing an additional 935,370 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 73.4% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,542,020 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $68,728,000 after purchasing an additional 652,926 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

About BankUnited

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.