BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Meets Estimates

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) issued its earnings results on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.03, FiscalAI reports. BankUnited had a net margin of 15.01% and a return on equity of 9.36%. The company had revenue of $280.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $292.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.95 EPS.

Here are the key takeaways from BankUnited’s conference call:

• Third-quarter profitability improved, with adjusted net income of $74 million, or $1.03 per share, compared with $0.96 in the prior quarter and $0.94 a year earlier. Adjusted ROA reached 84 basis points and ROE rose to 9.8%.
• Net interest margin expanded 10 basis points sequentially to 3.16%, ahead of the company’s prior fourth-quarter target, helped by higher loan and securities yields, lower deposit costs, and reduced wholesale funding. Management expects NIM to reach approximately 3.20% in the fourth quarter.
• Credit metrics remained relatively favorable, with nonperforming loans down 30% year over year, criticized and classified assets down 14%, and the NPA ratio improving to 77 basis points. However, management increased reserves through qualitative overlays because of geopolitical and other economic risks.
• Core loan production was solid at more than $1.1 billion, but elevated payoffs and delayed closings caused average C&I balances to decline by $300 million sequentially. Average NIDDA was essentially flat as rising long-term rates pressured mortgage-related title activity, while deposit pricing competition remained intense.
• The company repurchased 2.1 million shares for roughly $97 million during the quarter while maintaining a robust 12.1% CET1 ratio, and management indicated it would likely seek renewed buyback authorization after the current program is completed.

BankUnited Trading Up 4.0%

Shares of BankUnited stock opened at $43.78 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.12 billion, a PE ratio of 12.00 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $44.37 and its 200 day moving average is $46.24. BankUnited has a 1 year low of $36.71 and a 1 year high of $52.11.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Investors of record on Friday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 9th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. BankUnited’s payout ratio is 36.16%.

Insider Transactions at BankUnited

In related news, Director Douglas Pauls sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.90, for a total value of $143,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 42,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,034,408.80. This represents a 6.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on BKU. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BankUnited from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $49.00 to $48.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays cut their target price on BankUnited from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $47.00 target price (down from $54.00) on shares of BankUnited in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.18.

BankUnited Company Profile

BankUnited, Inc (NYSE:BKU) is the bank holding company for BankUnited, N.A., a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Miami Lakes, Florida. The company provides banking and financial services to businesses, institutions and individual customers, with an emphasis on commercial banking.

BankUnited offers commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate and multifamily financing, residential lending, mortgage warehouse facilities, consumer loans and deposit products. Its services also include treasury management, cash management, online and mobile banking, wealth management and other financial solutions designed to support business and personal banking needs.

The bank primarily serves customers in Florida and the New York metropolitan area, while its commercial banking activities extend to selected markets in other parts of the United States.