Barclays Cuts BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Price Target to $44.00

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU - Get Free Report) had its target price dropped by Barclays from $45.00 to $44.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "equal weight" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Barclays's target price suggests a potential upside of 15.49% from the company's previous close.

BKU has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $37.00 price target on shares of BankUnited in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Compass Point increased their price objective on BankUnited from $42.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on BankUnited from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BankUnited has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $41.36.

BankUnited Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:BKU traded up $0.69 during trading on Friday, reaching $38.10. 2,067,261 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 805,379. BankUnited has a 12-month low of $24.34 and a 12-month high of $44.45. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $39.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of $2.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.61 and a beta of 1.36.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $515.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $258.65 million. BankUnited had a net margin of 9.06% and a return on equity of 8.09%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that BankUnited will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other BankUnited news, insider Jay D. Richards sold 2,500 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.18, for a total value of $102,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 34,687 shares in the company, valued at $1,428,410.66. The trade was a 6.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas M. Cornish sold 10,778 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.11, for a total transaction of $421,527.58. Following the completion of 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 owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BankUnited

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BankUnited during the 2nd quarter worth $74,000. CWM LLC grew its stake in BankUnited by 118.3% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,208 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $153,000 after buying an additional 2,280 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in BankUnited in the 2nd quarter valued at about $169,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of BankUnited by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,637 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $169,000 after buying an additional 686 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of BankUnited during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $175,000. 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.