BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Rating Lowered to "Hold" at Wells Fargo & Company

Key Points

• Wells Fargo downgraded BankUnited from “strong buy” to “hold,” bringing the overall analyst consensus to “hold” with an average price target of $50.91.
• BankUnited shares opened at $42.16, below their 50-day and 200-day moving averages. The stock has traded between $35.10 and $52.11 over the past year.
• The company’s latest quarterly results fell slightly short of expectations, with earnings of $0.97 per share versus a $1.00 estimate and revenue of $284.57 million versus $290.33 million expected.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on BKU. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of BankUnited in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of BankUnited from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $51.00 to $49.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of BankUnited in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $56.00 target price on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $50.91.

BankUnited Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BKU opened at $42.16 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $45.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.45. BankUnited has a 1-year low of $35.10 and a 1-year high of $52.11. The company has a market cap of $3.00 billion, a PE ratio of 11.55 and a beta of 1.17.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.00 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $284.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $290.33 million. BankUnited had a net margin of 14.76% and a return on equity of 9.13%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.91 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that BankUnited will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Douglas Pauls sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.90, for a total value of $143,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 42,472 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,034,408.80. This trade represents a 6.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of BankUnited

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new position in shares of BankUnited during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new stake in BankUnited in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in BankUnited by 85.4% in the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 938 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in BankUnited during the 2nd quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Nykredit A S purchased a new position in BankUnited during the 2nd quarter valued at about $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.70% of the company's stock.

BankUnited Company Profile

BankUnited, Inc NYSE: BKU is the bank holding company for BankUnited, N.A., a regional financial institution headquartered in Miami Lakes, Florida. The bank serves businesses, professionals, institutions and individual consumers through a range of commercial and personal banking products.

BankUnited's offerings include commercial and industrial lending, commercial real estate financing, residential mortgage warehouse lending, consumer loans, checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, and treasury management services.

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