Jefferies Financial Group Initiates Coverage on BankUnited (NYSE:BKU)

Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of BankUnited (NYSE:BKU - Free Report) in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a hold rating and a $39.00 price objective on the financial services provider's stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on BKU. Hovde Group decreased their price target on shares of BankUnited from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of BankUnited from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Piper Sandler raised BankUnited from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $41.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BankUnited presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $40.42.

BankUnited Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:BKU traded up $0.12 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $34.55. The stock had a trading volume of 548,596 shares, compared to its average volume of 795,694. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $33.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. BankUnited has a one year low of $26.78 and a one year high of $44.45. The company has a market capitalization of $2.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.22 and a beta of 1.29.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. BankUnited had a return on equity of 8.48% and a net margin of 11.48%. The business had revenue of $255.41 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $264.35 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that BankUnited will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 11th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.59%. This is a boost from BankUnited's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. BankUnited's payout ratio is 38.51%.

Insider Transactions at BankUnited

In related news, Director Sanjiv Sobti purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $32.07 per share, with a total value of $64,140.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 20,782 shares in the company, valued at $666,478.74. This trade represents a 10.65% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Leslie Lunak sold 22,776 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.56, for a total value of $764,362.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 59,899 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,010,210.44. This represents a 27.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.15% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of BankUnited

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in BankUnited by 17.7% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 85,566 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,947,000 after acquiring an additional 12,873 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BankUnited during the 1st quarter worth approximately $9,100,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in BankUnited by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 256,460 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $8,832,000 after purchasing an additional 6,266 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in shares of BankUnited in the first quarter worth $750,000. Finally, PharVision Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of BankUnited during the first quarter valued at approximately $376,000. 99.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.