BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Rating Increased to Overweight at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note released on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $48.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $38.00.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on BankUnited from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $37.00 price objective on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of BankUnited from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of BankUnited from $34.50 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.40.

BankUnited Price Performance

BKU stock opened at $40.29 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $36.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.46. BankUnited has a one year low of $23.83 and a one year high of $41.65. The company has a market capitalization of $3.01 billion, a PE ratio of 16.51 and a beta of 1.33.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.07. BankUnited had a net margin of 9.06% and a return on equity of 8.09%. The business had revenue of $515.24 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $258.65 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that BankUnited will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 11th were given a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 11th. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.54%.

Insider Transactions at BankUnited

In other news, COO Thomas M. Cornish sold 10,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.11, for a total value of $421,527.58. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,911,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BKU. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of BankUnited by 211.5% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 59,594 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,172,000 after buying an additional 40,461 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in BankUnited by 40.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 275,556 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,041,000 after acquiring an additional 78,753 shares in the last quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP grew its holdings in BankUnited by 32.8% during the 3rd quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP now owns 14,651 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $534,000 after acquiring an additional 3,622 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of BankUnited in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $777,000. Finally, Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BankUnited during the third quarter valued at approximately $443,000. 99.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BankUnited Company Profile

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.