BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Analyst consensus is “Hold” among 14 brokerages, with six buy ratings, four holds, three sells and one strong buy; the average 12-month price target is $51.55 versus a recent price of $44.72.
• BankUnited’s latest quarterly results fell slightly short of expectations, reporting $0.97 EPS and $284.57 million in revenue versus estimates of $1.00 EPS and $290.33 million, though revenue increased 3.9% year over year.
• The company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.33, equivalent to a 3.0% annualized yield; institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.7% of outstanding shares.

Shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Hold" from the fourteen analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation, six have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $51.5455.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of BankUnited from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 24th. Hovde Group lowered their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 14th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of BankUnited in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of BankUnited in a research note on Monday, August 10th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $54.00 target price for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of BankUnited from $51.00 to $49.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 3rd.

Insider Activity at BankUnited

In other news, Director Douglas Pauls sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.90, for a total transaction of $143,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 42,472 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,034,408.80. This represents a 6.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BankUnited

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BKU. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of BankUnited during the first quarter valued at $6,797,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in BankUnited in the 2nd quarter worth about $518,492,000. Burney Co. purchased a new position in BankUnited in the 1st quarter worth about $1,026,000. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in BankUnited by 4,572.7% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 25,653 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,159,000 after buying an additional 25,104 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in BankUnited by 9.0% during 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. 99.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BankUnited Stock Down 0.1%

BKU opened at $44.72 on Friday. BankUnited has a one year low of $35.10 and a one year high of $52.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock's fifty day moving average is $46.55 and its 200-day moving average is $46.57. The company has a market capitalization of $3.19 billion, a PE ratio of 12.25 and a beta of 1.17.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.00 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $284.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $290.33 million. BankUnited had a net margin of 14.76% and a return on equity of 9.13%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that BankUnited will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th were issued a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. BankUnited's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.16%.

About BankUnited

BankUnited, Inc NYSE: BKU is the bank holding company for BankUnited, N.A., a national bank headquartered in Miami Lakes, Florida. The company provides banking products and services to commercial and middle-market businesses, public-sector organizations, and individual consumers.

Its offerings include commercial and industrial lending, commercial real estate financing, residential and commercial mortgage lending, consumer loans, deposit accounts, treasury management, online and mobile banking, and other cash-management services.

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