BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Hits New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) reached 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 changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $35.09.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on BKU. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Hovde Group boosted their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $34.50 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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 reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $37.00 price target on shares of BankUnited in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BankUnited presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.40.

BankUnited Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $36.18 and its 200-day moving average is $33.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.81 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.07. BankUnited had a net margin of 9.06% and a return on equity of 8.09%. The firm 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 posted $0.63 EPS. On average, analysts predict that BankUnited, Inc. will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 11th were given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 11th. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.54%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BankUnited

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of BKU. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its position in shares of BankUnited by 1.4% during the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 65,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,823,000 after buying an additional 896 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP acquired a new stake in shares of BankUnited during the first quarter worth $338,000. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its position in shares of BankUnited by 108.2% during the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 96,065 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,690,000 after buying an additional 49,916 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in BankUnited by 38.9% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 226,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,354,000 after acquiring an additional 63,520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in BankUnited by 887.1% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 66,403 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,859,000 after acquiring an additional 59,676 shares in the last quarter. 99.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.