Wedbush Issues Pessimistic Outlook for BankUnited Earnings

BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) – Investment analysts at Wedbush lowered their Q4 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of BankUnited in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush analyst D. Chiaverini now expects that the financial services provider will earn $0.66 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $0.76. Wedbush currently has a “Neutral” rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for BankUnited’s current full-year earnings is $2.86 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for BankUnited’s Q1 2025 earnings at $0.70 EPS and Q2 2025 earnings at $0.69 EPS.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on BKU. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of BankUnited from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $37.00 target price on shares of BankUnited in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup dropped their price target on BankUnited from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on BankUnited from $34.50 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Hovde Group raised their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BankUnited currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.40.

BankUnited Stock Performance

NYSE:BKU opened at $34.59 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.59 billion, a PE ratio of 14.91 and a beta of 1.33. BankUnited has a 1 year low of $21.13 and a 1 year high of $39.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.44.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.07. BankUnited had a return on equity of 7.76% and a net margin of 8.41%. The company had revenue of $515.24 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $258.65 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, October 11th will be given a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 11th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William S. Rubenstein sold 7,864 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,282 shares in the company, valued at approximately $396,576.74. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BankUnited

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of BankUnited by 49.2% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,247,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $65,778,000 after buying an additional 740,896 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in BankUnited by 3,901.0% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 574,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,803,000 after acquiring an additional 559,720 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 741.7% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 397,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,628,000 after acquiring an additional 350,071 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BankUnited by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,202,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $298,442,000 after purchasing an additional 332,567 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 3,658.4% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 325,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,537,000 after purchasing an additional 317,143 shares during the last quarter. 99.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.