BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Upgraded at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler upgraded shares of BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. Piper Sandler currently has $41.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Barclays reduced their price target on BankUnited from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on BankUnited from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on BankUnited from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on BankUnited from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on BankUnited from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.18.

BankUnited Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of BKU opened at $32.99 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.71 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.86. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $38.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.24. BankUnited has a 52 week low of $24.34 and a 52 week high of $44.45.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.19. BankUnited had a return on equity of 8.48% and a net margin of 11.48%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. On average, analysts predict that BankUnited will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio is 37.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BankUnited

In related news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,234 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.18, for a total value of $113,772.12. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $430,955. The trade was a 20.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Sanjiv Sobti bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $32.07 per share, for a total transaction of $64,140.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 20,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $666,478.74. The trade was a 10.65 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of BankUnited

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BKU. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of BankUnited by 182.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of BankUnited by 42.3% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of BankUnited in the fourth quarter valued at about $73,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in BankUnited by 270.6% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 1,407 shares during the period. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new position in BankUnited during the fourth quarter worth about $113,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.