BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Price Target Raised to $42.00

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) had its target price upped by The Goldman Sachs Group from $36.00 to $42.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a sell rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on BKU. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of BankUnited from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $38.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $37.00 price objective on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays raised their price objective on BankUnited from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Wedbush boosted their target price on BankUnited from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.70.

BankUnited Stock Performance

BKU opened at $42.36 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. BankUnited has a 52-week low of $24.34 and a 52-week high of $44.45. The firm has a market cap of $3.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.36 and a beta of 1.33. The business’s fifty day moving average is $37.48 and its 200-day moving average is $34.40.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $515.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $258.65 million. BankUnited had a net margin of 9.06% and a return on equity of 8.09%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that BankUnited will post 2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, October 11th were given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 11th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Thomas M. Cornish sold 10,778 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.11, for a total value of $421,527.58. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,911,000. This represents a 9.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jay D. Richards sold 2,500 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.18, for a total value of $102,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,428,410.66. This represents a 6.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BankUnited

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BankUnited by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 56,974 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,097,000 after purchasing an additional 2,856 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in BankUnited by 1.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,719,596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,674,000 after buying an additional 20,218 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its position in BankUnited by 48.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 183,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,677,000 after acquiring an additional 59,644 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its position in BankUnited by 8.8% during the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 74,966 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,732,000 after acquiring an additional 6,087 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in BankUnited during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,261,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

About BankUnited

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.