BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) Receives Consensus Rating of "Hold" from Analysts

Shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the ten ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $40.70.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BKU shares. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of BankUnited from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $38.00 to $48.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $37.00 price objective on shares of BankUnited in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday.

BankUnited Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of BKU stock traded down $0.22 during trading on Monday, reaching $41.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 663,386 shares, compared to its average volume of 808,427. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $38.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The company has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.09 and a beta of 1.36. BankUnited has a one year low of $24.34 and a one year high of $44.45.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $515.24 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $258.65 million. BankUnited had a net margin of 9.06% and a return on equity of 8.09%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that BankUnited will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, October 11th were paid a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 11th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. BankUnited's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.54%.

Insider Activity at BankUnited

In related news, insider Jay D. Richards sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.18, for a total transaction of $102,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 34,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,428,410.66. This represents a 6.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas M. Cornish sold 10,778 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.11, for a total transaction of $421,527.58. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 100,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,911,000. This represents a 9.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BankUnited

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BKU. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 8.2% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 632,632 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $18,517,000 after acquiring an additional 48,059 shares during the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of BankUnited in the second quarter worth about $799,000. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BankUnited in the third quarter worth about $443,000. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BankUnited in the second quarter worth about $515,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 7.2% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 41,438 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,213,000 after acquiring an additional 2,778 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.