BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Hovde Group cut their target price on shares of BankUnited from $57.00 to $53.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of BankUnited in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $56.00 price objective on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on BankUnited from $53.00 to $50.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on BankUnited from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.00.

BankUnited Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BKU opened at $46.21 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.66 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $47.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. BankUnited has a fifty-two week low of $34.79 and a fifty-two week high of $52.11.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 9.13% and a net margin of 14.76%.The firm’s revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BankUnited will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be paid a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. BankUnited’s payout ratio is presently 36.16%.

Insider Activity at BankUnited

In other news, insider Jay D. Richards sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.67, for a total value of $194,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 40,502 shares in the company, valued at $1,971,232.34. This represents a 8.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John N. Digiacomo sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.97, for a total transaction of $45,970.00. Following the sale, the director owned 15,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $690,791.19. The trade was a 6.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in BankUnited by 15.3% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 18,092 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $623,000 after acquiring an additional 2,394 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in BankUnited by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 44,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,528,000 after purchasing an additional 1,934 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in BankUnited in the first quarter valued at $9,100,000. Strs Ohio bought a new position in BankUnited in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in BankUnited by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 570,879 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,318,000 after buying an additional 6,815 shares during the last quarter. 99.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About BankUnited

BankUnited, Inc is a bank holding company based in Miami Lakes, Florida, operating through its subsidiary BankUnited, National Association. The company provides a broad range of commercial banking products and services, including deposit accounts, commercial lending and treasury management. It serves middle-market and small-business clients, offering tailored financing solutions across a variety of industry sectors.

The bank’s lending portfolio includes commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate loans and construction financing, as well as residential mortgage lending.