BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Given New $45.00 Price Target at Barclays

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) had its target price lifted by Barclays from $39.00 to $45.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on BKU. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on BankUnited from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of BankUnited from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $38.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $37.00 price objective on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on BankUnited from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on BankUnited from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BankUnited presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.70.

BankUnited Price Performance

Shares of BankUnited stock opened at $41.46 on Thursday. BankUnited has a 1-year low of $24.34 and a 1-year high of $44.45. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.99 and a beta of 1.36.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.07. BankUnited had a net margin of 9.06% and a return on equity of 8.09%. The company had revenue of $515.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $258.65 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that BankUnited will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 11th were paid a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 11th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jay D. Richards sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.18, for a total transaction of $102,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,428,410.66. This trade represents a 6.72 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Thomas M. Cornish sold 10,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.11, for a total value of $421,527.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,911,000. This represents a 9.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BankUnited

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of BankUnited by 307.6% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 1,455 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of BankUnited by 8.2% in 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 buying an additional 48,059 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of BankUnited by 39.7% during the second quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,602 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $457,000 after acquiring an additional 4,437 shares during the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of BankUnited during the second quarter valued at $2,784,000. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in BankUnited by 2.2% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 37,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,101,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

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.