Royal Bank of Canada Reiterates Sector Perform Rating for BankUnited (NYSE:BKU)

Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed their sector perform rating on shares of BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a $37.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on BKU. Hovde Group raised their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BankUnited currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.40.

BankUnited Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of BankUnited stock opened at $34.61 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The company has a 50-day moving average of $36.41 and a 200 day moving average of $32.41. The firm has a market cap of $2.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.92 and a beta of 1.33. BankUnited has a 1 year low of $21.13 and a 1 year high of $39.51.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $515.24 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $258.65 million. BankUnited had a net margin of 8.41% and a return on equity of 7.76%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.63 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that BankUnited will post 2.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, October 11th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 11th. BankUnited’s payout ratio is 50.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director William S. Rubenstein sold 7,864 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.57, for a total value of $303,314.48. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $396,576.74. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BankUnited

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BKU. CWM LLC boosted 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 last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in BankUnited during the first quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in BankUnited during the second quarter valued at approximately $74,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in BankUnited during the second quarter valued at approximately $169,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 686 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.