BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $39.56 and last traded at $39.21, with a volume of 26726 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $35.09.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on BKU shares. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of BankUnited from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on BankUnited from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Wedbush boosted their price target on BankUnited from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $37.00 target price on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BankUnited presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.40.

BankUnited Stock Up 13.8 %

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a PE ratio of 16.25 and a beta of 1.33.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $515.24 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $258.65 million. BankUnited had a return on equity of 8.09% and a net margin of 9.06%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.63 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that BankUnited, Inc. will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 11th were paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 11th. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.54%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BankUnited

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKU. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of BankUnited by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,483,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $265,542,000 after buying an additional 280,993 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in BankUnited by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,583,059 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $134,144,000 after acquiring an additional 315,872 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in BankUnited by 49.2% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,247,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $65,778,000 after purchasing an additional 740,896 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 37.3% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 868,806 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,659,000 after purchasing an additional 236,174 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of BankUnited by 3,901.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 574,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,803,000 after purchasing an additional 559,720 shares during the period. 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.