Jefferies Financial Group Initiates Coverage on BankUnited (NYSE:BKU)

Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) in a research report released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued a hold rating and a $39.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of BankUnited from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of BankUnited from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of BankUnited from $50.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of BankUnited from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of BankUnited from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BankUnited presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.42.

BankUnited Trading Down 4.3%

BankUnited stock opened at $34.32 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.14 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.88. BankUnited has a 1 year low of $26.78 and a 1 year high of $44.45. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $33.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.14.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. BankUnited had a net margin of 11.48% and a return on equity of 8.48%. The firm had revenue of $255.41 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $264.35 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that BankUnited will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th were paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.61%. This is a positive change from BankUnited’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 11th. BankUnited’s payout ratio is presently 38.51%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BankUnited news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,234 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.18, for a total transaction of $113,772.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $430,955. The trade was a 20.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sanjiv Sobti bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $32.07 per share, with a total value of $64,140.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 20,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $666,478.74. This trade represents a 10.65% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of BankUnited

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its stake in shares of BankUnited by 14,050.0% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 843 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BankUnited by 182.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of BankUnited by 42.3% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of BankUnited by 165.5% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,885 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 1,175 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of BankUnited during the fourth quarter valued at $73,000. 99.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.