BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Reaches New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $45.25 and last traded at $45.2950, with a volume of 38795 shares. The stock had previously closed at $44.70.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on BKU shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded BankUnited from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $55.00 in a report on Monday, December 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on BankUnited from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Hovde Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $51.00 price objective on shares of BankUnited in a research note on Monday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $44.00 price objective on shares of BankUnited in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BankUnited has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.91.

BankUnited Stock Up 1.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.93. The firm has a market cap of $3.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.75 and a beta of 1.34.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $275.68 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $280.33 million. BankUnited had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 9.18%. The company’s revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.81 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 10th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.93%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BankUnited

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in BankUnited by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,596,455 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $175,400,000 after purchasing an additional 51,926 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 23.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,070,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $117,183,000 after buying an additional 576,843 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 9.4% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,163,936 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $82,576,000 after buying an additional 185,937 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of BankUnited by 0.8% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,776,183 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,223,000 after acquiring an additional 13,555 shares during the period. Finally, Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC grew its stake in shares of BankUnited by 20.9% in the third quarter. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC now owns 1,535,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $58,586,000 after acquiring an additional 265,439 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.