Brokerages Set BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) Price Target at $41.55

Key Points

• BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from eleven research firms, with a target price of approximately $41.55.
• Insider trading activity saw Jay D. Richards and Douglas J. Pauls sell a combined total of 7,442 shares on July 25, reducing their ownership stakes in the company.
• BankUnited reported earnings of $0.91 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates and highlighting a year-over-year growth in earnings.

BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Hold" from the eleven research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $41.5455.

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating and set a $43.00 target price (up from $41.00) on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of BankUnited from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Hovde Group upped their target price on shares of BankUnited from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BankUnited from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th.

BankUnited Stock Performance

NYSE BKU traded down $0.2660 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $37.1040. 133,493 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 824,046. The company has a market cap of $2.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.88 and a beta of 1.32. BankUnited has a 12-month low of $28.21 and a 12-month high of $44.45. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $36.49 and a 200 day moving average of $35.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $273.93 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $267.17 million. BankUnited had a net margin of 13.19% and a return on equity of 9.00%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that BankUnited will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 11th were given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 11th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. BankUnited's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.36%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John N. Digiacomo sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.43, for a total value of $34,430.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 14,516 shares in the company, valued at $499,785.88. This represents a 6.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jay D. Richards sold 3,942 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.81, for a total transaction of $152,989.02. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 39,193 shares in the company, valued at $1,521,080.33. The trade was a 9.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,442 shares of company stock worth $323,184 over the last ninety days. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BankUnited

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BKU. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in BankUnited by 893.2% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,150,879 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $39,636,000 after purchasing an additional 1,035,002 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in BankUnited during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,525,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new position in BankUnited during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,499,000. Boston Partners purchased a new position in BankUnited during the first quarter worth approximately $26,299,000. Finally, Kodai Capital Management LP purchased a new position in BankUnited during the first quarter worth approximately $16,986,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.70% of the company's stock.

About BankUnited

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.