BankUnited (BKU) Competitors

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) and BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, media sentiment, valuation, community ranking, risk and earnings.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer FHN or BKU?

First Horizon received 105 more outperform votes than BankUnited when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 55.45% of users gave BankUnited an outperform vote while only 54.52% of users gave First Horizon an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
First Horizon	Outperform Votes 507 54.52%	Underperform Votes 423 45.48%
BankUnited	Outperform Votes 402 55.45%	Underperform Votes 323 44.55%

Is FHN or BKU more profitable?

First Horizon has a net margin of 15.38% compared to BankUnited's net margin of 11.48%. First Horizon's return on equity of 10.10% beat BankUnited's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Horizon	15.38%	10.10%	1.07%
BankUnited	11.48%	8.48%	0.66%

Do insiders and institutionals believe in FHN or BKU?

80.3% of First Horizon shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.7% of BankUnited shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of First Horizon shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of BankUnited shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts rate FHN or BKU?

First Horizon presently has a consensus target price of $22.23, indicating a potential upside of 29.23%. BankUnited has a consensus target price of $43.45, indicating a potential upside of 40.79%. Given BankUnited's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe BankUnited is more favorable than First Horizon.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Horizon	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.60
BankUnited	1 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.27

Does the media refer more to FHN or BKU?

In the previous week, First Horizon had 4 more articles in the media than BankUnited. MarketBeat recorded 11 mentions for First Horizon and 7 mentions for BankUnited. First Horizon's average media sentiment score of 0.94 beat BankUnited's score of 0.84 indicating that First Horizon is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Horizon	7 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
BankUnited	5 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has higher earnings and valuation, FHN or BKU?

First Horizon has higher revenue and earnings than BankUnited. BankUnited is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than First Horizon, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Horizon	$3.10B	2.86	$775M	$1.36	12.65
BankUnited	$1.01B	2.28	$232.47M	$3.08	10.02

Is FHN or BKU a better dividend stock?

First Horizon pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. BankUnited pays an annual dividend of $1.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. First Horizon pays out 44.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. BankUnited pays out 40.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. BankUnited is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Which has more volatility & risk, FHN or BKU?

First Horizon has a beta of 0.86, indicating that its stock price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BankUnited has a beta of 1.4, indicating that its stock price is 40% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

First Horizon beats BankUnited on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.