BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $43.80.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BKU. Hovde Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of BankUnited in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Barclays upped their price target on BankUnited from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on BankUnited from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd.

BankUnited Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of BKU opened at $45.10 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $41.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.89. 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 has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.70 and a beta of 1.34. BankUnited has a one year low of $28.21 and a one year high of $46.92.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $275.68 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $280.33 million. BankUnited had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 9.18%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.81 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that BankUnited will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 9th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.93%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BankUnited

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BKU. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of BankUnited by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,596,455 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $175,400,000 after buying an additional 51,926 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in BankUnited by 23.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,070,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $117,183,000 after acquiring an additional 576,843 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in BankUnited by 9.4% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,163,936 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $82,576,000 after acquiring an additional 185,937 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in BankUnited by 0.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,776,183 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $63,223,000 after acquiring an additional 13,555 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC raised its position in BankUnited by 20.9% in the third quarter. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC now owns 1,535,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $58,586,000 after purchasing an additional 265,439 shares during the period. 99.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BankUnited Company Profile

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.