Royal Bank of Canada Reiterates “Sector Perform” Rating for BankUnited (NYSE:BKU)

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU)‘s stock had its “sector perform” rating restated by equities researchers at Royal Bank of Canada in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $37.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price points to a potential upside of 4.49% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also commented on BKU. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of BankUnited from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on BankUnited from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of BankUnited from $34.50 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of BankUnited from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.40.

BankUnited Stock Performance

NYSE:BKU opened at $35.41 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. BankUnited has a 1-year low of $21.02 and a 1-year high of $39.51. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $36.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.36. The stock has a market cap of $2.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.26 and a beta of 1.33.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $515.24 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $258.65 million. BankUnited had a net margin of 8.41% and a return on equity of 7.76%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that BankUnited will post 2.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at BankUnited

In related news, Director William S. Rubenstein sold 7,864 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.57, for a total transaction of $303,314.48. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $396,576.74. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of BankUnited by 3.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 280,993 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,583,059 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $134,144,000 after purchasing an additional 315,872 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 49.2% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,247,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $65,778,000 after purchasing an additional 740,896 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in shares of BankUnited by 6.4% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,552,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,467,000 after buying an additional 93,119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of BankUnited by 37.3% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 868,806 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,659,000 after buying an additional 236,174 shares during the period. 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.