BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) Stock Now Rated “Hold” by Wall Street Analysts

Shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the fourteen brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $51.55.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on BankUnited from $53.00 to $50.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded BankUnited from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. Hovde Group reduced their target price on BankUnited from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 14th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on BankUnited in a research report on Monday, August 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $54.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on BankUnited from $51.00 to $49.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 3rd.

Insider Transactions at BankUnited

In other BankUnited news, Director Douglas Pauls sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.90, for a total value of $143,700.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 42,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,034,408.80. This trade represents a 6.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of BankUnited

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in BankUnited in the second quarter valued at approximately $518,492,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,658,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $210,390,000 after purchasing an additional 26,292 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of BankUnited in the 2nd quarter valued at $46,177,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of BankUnited by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 819,548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,011,000 after purchasing an additional 67,981 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of BankUnited by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 477,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,299,000 after purchasing an additional 22,236 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

BankUnited Price Performance

Shares of BankUnited stock opened at $43.40 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.89 and a beta of 1.17. BankUnited has a twelve month low of $35.10 and a twelve month high of $52.11. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.49.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by ($0.03). BankUnited had a return on equity of 9.13% and a net margin of 14.76%.The business had revenue of $284.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $290.33 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.91 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that BankUnited will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

About BankUnited

BankUnited, Inc (NYSE:BKU) is the bank holding company for BankUnited, N.A., a national bank headquartered in Miami Lakes, Florida. The company provides banking products and services to commercial and middle-market businesses, public-sector organizations, and individual consumers.

Its offerings include commercial and industrial lending, commercial real estate financing, residential and commercial mortgage lending, consumer loans, deposit accounts, treasury management, online and mobile banking, and other cash-management services.