BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Lifted to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Monday.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on BKU. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 29th. Wedbush decreased their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $34.00 to $31.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of BankUnited from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of BankUnited from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $30.50.

BankUnited Trading Up 3.6 %

Shares of BankUnited stock opened at $27.70 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.94 and a beta of 1.36. BankUnited has a 12-month low of $15.83 and a 12-month high of $34.22. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $508.35 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $239.84 million. BankUnited had a net margin of 8.71% and a return on equity of 8.06%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. Analysts predict that BankUnited will post 2.73 EPS for the current year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th were given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This is a boost from BankUnited’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.19%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 11th. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BankUnited

In other BankUnited news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 2,285 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.18, for a total transaction of $62,106.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,750 shares in the company, valued at $319,365. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BankUnited

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its position in shares of BankUnited by 2.8% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 40,891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $928,000 after acquiring an additional 1,125 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 16.4% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 10,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 1,434 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 1.0% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 163,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,714,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 21.6% in the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,165 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $313,000 after purchasing an additional 1,985 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 106.4% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,879 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $126,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 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.