BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Earns Overweight Rating from Analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) in a research note published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued an overweight rating and a $44.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock.

BKU has been the topic of several other reports. Hovde Group lifted their price objective on BankUnited from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen raised BankUnited from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $43.00 price target (up from $41.00) on shares of BankUnited in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BankUnited currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.75.

BankUnited Price Performance

BankUnited stock opened at $39.33 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.53 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $37.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. BankUnited has a 1 year low of $28.21 and a 1 year high of $44.45.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $273.93 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $267.17 million. BankUnited had a net margin of 13.19% and a return on equity of 9.00%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that BankUnited will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 11th were issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 11th. BankUnited’s payout ratio is presently 36.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 3,500 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.79, for a total transaction of $135,765.00. Following the sale, the director owned 43,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,675,921.95. The trade was a 7.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jay D. Richards sold 3,942 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.81, for a total value of $152,989.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 39,193 shares in the company, valued at $1,521,080.33. This represents a 9.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.15% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of BankUnited

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bayforest Capital Ltd lifted its stake in BankUnited by 32.3% during the second quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 1,111 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 22,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $787,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in BankUnited by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 27,917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $994,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in BankUnited by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 69,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,460,000 after acquiring an additional 483 shares during the period. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in BankUnited by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 77,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,752,000 after acquiring an additional 544 shares during the period. 99.70% of the stock is currently 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.