The Goldman Sachs Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Stock

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) had its price objective increased by stock analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $36.00 to $42.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “sell” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective indicates a potential downside of 0.85% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised BankUnited from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $38.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $37.00 price target on shares of BankUnited in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of BankUnited from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on BankUnited from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BankUnited currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.70.

BankUnited Stock Performance

BKU opened at $42.36 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.49 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a fifty day moving average of $37.37 and a 200 day moving average of $34.34. BankUnited has a fifty-two week low of $24.34 and a fifty-two week high of $44.45.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.07. BankUnited had a return on equity of 8.09% and a net margin of 9.06%. The firm had revenue of $515.24 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $258.65 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BankUnited will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at BankUnited

In related news, COO Thomas M. Cornish sold 10,778 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.11, for a total value of $421,527.58. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,911,000. This represents a 9.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jay D. Richards sold 2,500 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.18, for a total value of $102,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 34,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,428,410.66. The trade was a 6.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.19% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BankUnited

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BKU. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in BankUnited by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 632,632 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,517,000 after purchasing an additional 48,059 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 3.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,483,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $265,542,000 after buying an additional 280,993 shares during the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of BankUnited in the 2nd quarter valued at $799,000. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in BankUnited in the 3rd quarter worth $443,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in BankUnited during the 2nd quarter worth about $515,000. 99.70% of the stock is 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.