Jay Richards Sells 3,506 Shares of BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Stock

BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) insider Jay Richards sold 3,506 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.83, for a total value of $174,703.98. Following the sale, the insider owned 35,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,778,283.21. The trade was a 8.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

BankUnited Price Performance

Shares of BKU stock traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $50.49. The stock had a trading volume of 1,584,872 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,095,429. BankUnited, Inc. has a 12-month low of $28.21 and a 12-month high of $52.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.10. The company has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.26 and a beta of 1.31.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $288.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $279.76 million. BankUnited had a net margin of 14.14% and a return on equity of 9.09%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.91 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th were paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 9th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.03%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BankUnited

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its holdings in BankUnited by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 17,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $767,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BankUnited during the fourth quarter worth about $226,000. Artemis Investment Management LLP purchased a new stake in shares of BankUnited in the fourth quarter worth about $73,655,000. Horizon Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BankUnited in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,858,000. Finally, Moody Aldrich Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BankUnited in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,809,000. 99.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on BKU. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Hovde Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $51.00 price objective on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $47.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Susquehanna upgraded BankUnited to a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, BankUnited presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.45.

BankUnited Company Profile

BankUnited, Inc is a bank holding company based in Miami Lakes, Florida, operating through its subsidiary BankUnited, National Association. The company provides a broad range of commercial banking products and services, including deposit accounts, commercial lending and treasury management. It serves middle-market and small-business clients, offering tailored financing solutions across a variety of industry sectors.

The bank’s lending portfolio includes commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate loans and construction financing, as well as residential mortgage lending.