BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Stock Gets Price Target Reduction from Citigroup

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) had its price target cut by Citigroup from $42.00 to $40.00 in a research report report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a sell rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of BankUnited in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Hovde Group reduced their price target on BankUnited from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 14th. Wall Street Zen raised BankUnited from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. Zacks Research cut shares of BankUnited from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, BankUnited has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.18.

BankUnited Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:BKU opened at $43.64 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $44.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.22. BankUnited has a 12-month low of $37.28 and a 12-month high of $52.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.76 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.03. BankUnited had a net margin of 15.01% and a return on equity of 9.36%. The company had revenue of $280.44 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $292.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that BankUnited will post 3.95 earnings per share for the current year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 9th. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of BankUnited

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Allworth Financial LP bought a new stake in shares of BankUnited during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in BankUnited by 62.7% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in BankUnited by 85.4% in the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 938 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 432 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in BankUnited in the 2nd quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Nykredit A S bought a new stake in BankUnited during the second quarter valued at about $59,000. 99.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About BankUnited

BankUnited, Inc (NYSE:BKU) is the bank holding company for BankUnited, N.A., a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Miami Lakes, Florida. The company provides banking and financial services to businesses, institutions and individual customers, with an emphasis on commercial banking.

BankUnited offers commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate and multifamily financing, residential lending, mortgage warehouse facilities, consumer loans and deposit products. Its services also include treasury management, cash management, online and mobile banking, wealth management and other financial solutions designed to support business and personal banking needs.

The bank primarily serves customers in Florida and the New York metropolitan area, while its commercial banking activities extend to selected markets in other parts of the United States.