BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Upgraded to Overweight at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler upgraded shares of BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $41.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of BankUnited from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Compass Point upped their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com upgraded BankUnited from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on BankUnited from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.18.

BankUnited Trading Up 3.6 %

BankUnited stock opened at $32.47 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. BankUnited has a 12 month low of $24.34 and a 12 month high of $44.45. The stock has a market cap of $2.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.54 and a beta of 1.40.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.19. BankUnited had a return on equity of 8.48% and a net margin of 11.48%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.26 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BankUnited will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.57%. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio is 37.66%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,234 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.18, for a total value of $113,772.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,955. This trade represents a 20.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BankUnited

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of BankUnited during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,525,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new position in BankUnited in the fourth quarter worth $30,499,000. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC acquired a new stake in BankUnited during the fourth quarter worth $18,663,000. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in BankUnited in the 3rd quarter valued at $17,745,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of BankUnited by 12.9% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,821,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $107,696,000 after buying an additional 322,368 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

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.