Analysts Set BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) PT at $53.55

BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation, seven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $53.5455.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Raymond James Financial set a $55.00 price objective on shares of BankUnited in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on BankUnited from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Barclays upped their target price on BankUnited from $47.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on BankUnited from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Sanjiv Sobti sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.88, for a total value of $254,400.00. Following the sale, the director owned 18,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $957,358.08. This trade represents a 20.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,447 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.11, for a total transaction of $162,388.17. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 11,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $541,765. This trade represents a 23.06% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 11,953 shares of company stock valued at $591,492 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BKU. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of BankUnited by 21.0% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,472 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of BankUnited by 23.5% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of BankUnited by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 289 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in BankUnited by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 22,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $849,000 after buying an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its holdings in BankUnited by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 17,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $767,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. 99.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BankUnited Stock Performance

Shares of BKU opened at $44.51 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $47.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.04. BankUnited has a 12-month low of $28.21 and a 12-month high of $52.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.28 billion, a PE ratio of 12.57 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $260.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $279.76 million. BankUnited had a net margin of 14.14% and a return on equity of 9.09%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that BankUnited will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 9th. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.03%.

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.