BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the twelve research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $46.00.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on BKU shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of BankUnited in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $44.00 price objective on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $43.00 target price on shares of BankUnited in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on BankUnited in a research report on Wednesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $51.00 price target on the stock.

BankUnited Price Performance

NYSE:BKU opened at $47.07 on Tuesday. BankUnited has a 52-week low of $28.21 and a 52-week high of $47.16. The company has a market cap of $3.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.26 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.19.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $275.68 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $280.33 million. BankUnited had a return on equity of 9.18% and a net margin of 13.98%.The business’s revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.81 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BankUnited will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio is 34.93%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BankUnited

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of BankUnited during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in BankUnited in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Quarry LP lifted its position in BankUnited by 158.2% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 940 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 576 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 32.3% during the second quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 1,111 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares during the period. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of BankUnited by 202.0% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,217 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 814 shares during the last quarter. 99.70% of the stock is currently 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.