Barclays Increases BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Price Target to $39.00

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) had its price objective hoisted by Barclays from $35.00 to $39.00 in a report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of BankUnited from $34.50 to $41.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of BankUnited from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Wedbush upped their price objective on BankUnited from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on BankUnited from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $35.50.

BankUnited Trading Up 2.5 %

NYSE:BKU opened at $36.44 on Friday. BankUnited has a 52 week low of $20.84 and a 52 week high of $39.51. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $36.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.33. The firm has a market cap of $2.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.71 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.87.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $250.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $243.65 million. BankUnited had a return on equity of 7.76% and a net margin of 8.41%. BankUnited’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that BankUnited will post 2.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 11th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 11th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.18%. BankUnited’s payout ratio is 50.00%.

Insider Transactions at BankUnited

In related news, insider Jay D. Richards sold 10,143 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.61, for a total transaction of $371,335.23. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,361,416.07. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Jay D. Richards sold 10,143 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.61, for a total transaction of $371,335.23. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 37,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,361,416.07. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director William S. Rubenstein sold 7,864 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.57, for a total transaction of $303,314.48. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $396,576.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 21,507 shares of company stock worth $802,400. 1.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of BankUnited by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 632,632 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,517,000 after purchasing an additional 48,059 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of BankUnited by 38.9% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 226,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,354,000 after purchasing an additional 63,520 shares in the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its stake in BankUnited by 41.8% in the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 179,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,810,000 after purchasing an additional 52,788 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in BankUnited by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,202,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $298,442,000 after buying an additional 332,567 shares during the period. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of BankUnited during the 4th quarter valued at $1,331,000. 99.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About BankUnited

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.