BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Price Target Raised to $44.00

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU - Get Free Report) had its target price hoisted by equities researchers at Hovde Group from $43.00 to $44.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has an "outperform" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Hovde Group's price objective points to a potential upside of 15.61% from the company's current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "hold" rating and a $39.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays upped their target price on BankUnited from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped 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 note on Tuesday, April 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $41.55.

BankUnited Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of BKU stock traded down $0.40 on Thursday, reaching $38.06. The company had a trading volume of 182,771 shares, compared to its average volume of 836,711. The stock has a market cap of $2.86 billion, a PE ratio of 11.16 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a 50-day moving average of $35.77 and a 200-day moving average of $35.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. BankUnited has a 12 month low of $28.21 and a 12 month high of $44.45.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU - Get Free Report) last announced 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. BankUnited had a return on equity of 9.00% and a net margin of 13.19%. The company had revenue of $273.93 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $267.17 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that BankUnited will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Leslie Lunak sold 22,776 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.56, for a total transaction of $764,362.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,899 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,010,210.44. This represents a 27.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John N. Digiacomo sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.43, for a total value of $34,430.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 14,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $499,785.88. This represents a 6.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.15% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BankUnited

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BKU. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in BankUnited during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in shares of BankUnited by 14,050.0% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 849 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 843 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd grew its stake in shares of BankUnited by 32.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 1,111 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in BankUnited by 42.3% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,380 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in BankUnited by 165.5% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,885 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 1,175 shares in the last quarter. 99.70% of the stock is currently owned by 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.