BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Shares Gap Down - Time to Sell?

BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $33.63, but opened at $32.06. BankUnited shares last traded at $32.71, with a volume of 102,162 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on BKU. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of BankUnited from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler raised shares of BankUnited from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $41.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com lowered shares of BankUnited from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Hovde Group cut their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BankUnited has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $40.55.

BankUnited Stock Up 1.9 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.55 billion, a PE ratio of 10.99 and a beta of 1.20. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $33.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.21.

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

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is a positive change from BankUnited's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 11th. BankUnited's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.51%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Sanjiv Sobti purchased 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $32.83 per share, for a total transaction of $32,830.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 21,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $715,103.06. This trade represents a 4.81 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,234 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.18, for a total value of $113,772.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,955. The trade was a 20.89 % decrease in their position. 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 have recently made changes to their positions in BKU. Bailard Inc. purchased a new stake in BankUnited in the 1st quarter worth about $703,000. James Investment Research Inc. bought a new position in BankUnited during the first quarter worth about $245,000. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of BankUnited by 31.7% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,464 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 1,798 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of BankUnited by 9.8% in the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 8,117 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $280,000 after purchasing an additional 726 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in BankUnited by 36.8% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,059,697 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $36,496,000 after buying an additional 285,092 shares during the period. 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.