BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Downgraded by Wells Fargo & Company to Hold

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

BKU has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Barclays decreased their price objective on BankUnited from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of BankUnited from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BankUnited from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of BankUnited in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of BankUnited from $51.00 to $49.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.91.

BankUnited Price Performance

BKU stock opened at $42.16 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $45.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.45. The firm has a market cap of $3.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.55 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. BankUnited has a 1 year low of $35.10 and a 1 year high of $52.11.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.00 by ($0.03). BankUnited had a return on equity of 9.13% and a net margin of 14.76%.The company had revenue of $284.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $290.33 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that BankUnited will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Douglas Pauls sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.90, for a total value of $143,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 42,472 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,034,408.80. This represents a 6.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BankUnited

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKU. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BankUnited during the 2nd quarter valued at about $518,492,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in BankUnited by 0.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,658,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $210,390,000 after purchasing an additional 26,292 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in BankUnited in the second quarter valued at approximately $46,177,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in BankUnited by 9.0% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 819,548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,011,000 after purchasing an additional 67,981 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its position in BankUnited by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 477,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,299,000 after purchasing an additional 22,236 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

About BankUnited

BankUnited, Inc (NYSE:BKU) is the bank holding company for BankUnited, N.A., a regional financial institution headquartered in Miami Lakes, Florida. The bank serves businesses, professionals, institutions and individual consumers through a range of commercial and personal banking products.

BankUnited’s offerings include commercial and industrial lending, commercial real estate financing, residential mortgage warehouse lending, consumer loans, checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, and treasury management services.