Royal Bank of Canada Boosts BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Price Target to $31.00

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) had its price target increased by Royal Bank of Canada from $29.00 to $31.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on BankUnited from $33.00 to $34.50 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of BankUnited from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of BankUnited from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Barclays increased their price target on BankUnited from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on BankUnited from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BankUnited currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $31.35.

BankUnited Stock Performance

Shares of BankUnited stock opened at $31.90 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.21. BankUnited has a fifty-two week low of $20.84 and a fifty-two week high of $34.22. The firm has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.75 and a beta of 1.35.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $508.35 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $239.84 million. BankUnited had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 8.71%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.70 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that BankUnited will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 12th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 12th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.64%. BankUnited’s payout ratio is 50.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BankUnited news, Director John N. Digiacomo sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.28, for a total transaction of $43,920.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,482 shares in the company, valued at approximately $394,752.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.19% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BankUnited

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKU. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in BankUnited by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 58,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,699,000 after acquiring an additional 938 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of BankUnited by 307.6% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 1,455 shares in the last quarter. EMC Capital Management acquired a new position in BankUnited during the first quarter worth $278,000. Caxton Associates LP boosted its holdings in BankUnited by 202.7% during the first quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 60,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,696,000 after purchasing an additional 40,557 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd grew its position in BankUnited by 145.8% in the first quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 48,984 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,370,000 after purchasing an additional 29,058 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

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.