Compass Point Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Stock

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) had its target price increased by Compass Point from $42.00 to $49.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Compass Point currently has a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on BKU. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on BankUnited from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of BankUnited from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded BankUnited from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $38.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of BankUnited from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $37.00 price objective on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BankUnited presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.45.

BankUnited Price Performance

Shares of BankUnited stock opened at $40.67 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.67 and a beta of 1.36. BankUnited has a one year low of $24.34 and a one year high of $44.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.30.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.07. The business 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. Analysts forecast that BankUnited will post 2.89 EPS for the current 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 2.85%. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.54%.

Insider Transactions at BankUnited

In related news, COO Thomas M. Cornish sold 10,778 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.11, for a total transaction of $421,527.58. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,911,000. This trade represents a 9.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jay D. Richards sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.18, for a total transaction of $102,950.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 34,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,428,410.66. This represents a 6.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BankUnited

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BKU. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 307.6% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 1,455 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in BankUnited in the second quarter worth about $74,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in BankUnited during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $169,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 17.4% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $169,000 after buying an additional 686 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of BankUnited in the second quarter valued at about $175,000. Institutional investors own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

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.