BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Given New $53.00 Price Target at Hovde Group

Key Points

• Hovde Group lowered BankUnited’s price target to $53 from $55 while maintaining an “outperform” rating, implying 14.24% upside from the previous close.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: BankUnited has seven Buy, five Hold, and two Sell ratings, resulting in a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $52.
• BankUnited’s latest quarter fell slightly short of expectations, with EPS of $0.97 versus $1.00 forecast and revenue of $284.57 million versus $290.33 million expected; however, revenue increased 3.9% year over year.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU - Get Free Report) had its price objective dropped by research analysts at Hovde Group from $55.00 to $53.00 in a report released on Monday. The brokerage currently has an "outperform" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Hovde Group's target price indicates a potential upside of 14.24% from the company's previous close.

BKU has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of BankUnited from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of BankUnited from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of BankUnited from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Barclays reduced their price objective on BankUnited from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on BankUnited from $53.00 to $50.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BankUnited currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $52.00.

BankUnited Price Performance

BankUnited stock opened at $46.39 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.71 and a beta of 1.17. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $47.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. BankUnited has a 12 month low of $34.79 and a 12 month high of $52.11.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.00 by ($0.03). BankUnited had a net margin of 14.76% and a return on equity of 9.13%. The business had revenue of $284.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $290.33 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. BankUnited's quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that BankUnited will post 4.09 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BankUnited news, insider Jay D. Richards sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.67, for a total value of $194,680.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 40,502 shares in the company, valued at $1,971,232.34. This trade represents a 8.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John N. Digiacomo sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.97, for a total transaction of $45,970.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 15,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $690,791.19. The trade was a 6.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of BankUnited

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in BankUnited by 47.2% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 254,990 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $12,354,000 after purchasing an additional 81,741 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in BankUnited by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,620 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 819,548 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $37,011,000 after buying an additional 67,981 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in shares of BankUnited during the 1st quarter worth $6,797,000. Finally, Amundi increased its position in BankUnited by 31.4% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 15,300 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $691,000 after purchasing an additional 3,660 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.70% of the company's stock.

BankUnited Company Profile

BankUnited, Inc is a bank holding company based in Miami Lakes, Florida, operating through its subsidiary BankUnited, National Association. The company provides a broad range of commercial banking products and services, including deposit accounts, commercial lending and treasury management. It serves middle-market and small-business clients, offering tailored financing solutions across a variety of industry sectors.

The bank's lending portfolio includes commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate loans and construction financing, as well as residential mortgage lending.

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