Wedbush Equities Analysts Lower Earnings Estimates for BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) – Research analysts at Wedbush cut their Q2 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for BankUnited in a report released on Wednesday, April 17th. Wedbush analyst D. Chiaverini now expects that the financial services provider will post earnings of $0.60 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $0.63. Wedbush has a “Neutral” rating and a $31.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for BankUnited’s current full-year earnings is $2.65 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for BankUnited’s Q3 2024 earnings at $0.64 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $0.74 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $0.73 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $0.75 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $0.73 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $2.95 EPS.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.69 by ($0.42). The business had revenue of $500.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $244.11 million. BankUnited had a return on equity of 8.38% and a net margin of 9.19%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.82 earnings per share.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. UBS Group cut shares of BankUnited from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $29.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on BankUnited from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on BankUnited from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on BankUnited from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of BankUnited from $33.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BankUnited currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.44.

BankUnited Stock Performance

Shares of BKU opened at $25.18 on Thursday. BankUnited has a 12-month low of $15.83 and a 12-month high of $34.22. The stock has a market cap of $1.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.58 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The company has a 50-day moving average of $26.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.97.

Institutional Trading of BankUnited

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BKU. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its position in BankUnited by 21.6% during the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,165 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $313,000 after acquiring an additional 1,985 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BankUnited by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 120,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,360,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 17.1% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 935,237 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,330,000 after purchasing an additional 136,291 shares during the period. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in BankUnited during the 4th quarter worth approximately $238,000. 99.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 2,285 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.18, for a total value of $62,106.30. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $319,365. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.19% of the company’s stock.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. This is a boost from BankUnited’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.61%. BankUnited’s payout ratio is 48.74%.

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.