BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

StockNews.com upgraded shares of BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Monday morning.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of BankUnited from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on BankUnited from $33.00 to $29.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on BankUnited from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. UBS Group downgraded BankUnited from a neutral rating to a sell rating and set a $29.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on BankUnited in a research report on Friday, March 8th. They set an equal weight rating and a $29.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $30.50.

BankUnited Trading Up 0.4 %

BankUnited stock opened at $27.38 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.27. BankUnited has a 52 week low of $15.83 and a 52 week high of $34.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.05 billion, a PE ratio of 11.80 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.02. BankUnited had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 8.71%. The company had revenue of $508.35 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $239.84 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.70 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that BankUnited will post 2.73 earnings per share for the current year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.24%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. This is an increase from BankUnited’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. BankUnited’s payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 2,285 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.18, for a total transaction of $62,106.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $319,365. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BankUnited

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wolverine Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 11,419.0% during the fourth quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 11,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $374,000 after purchasing an additional 11,419 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in BankUnited by 24.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 124,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,042,000 after acquiring an additional 24,498 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in BankUnited by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,539,176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,939,000 after acquiring an additional 290,232 shares in the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of BankUnited by 84.6% during the third quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 262,741 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,964,000 after purchasing an additional 120,441 shares in the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of BankUnited by 129.1% during the third quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 70,116 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,592,000 after purchasing an additional 39,507 shares during the last quarter. 99.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.