Wells Fargo & Company Increases BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Price Target to $50.00

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) had its price objective hoisted by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $48.00 to $50.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 22.56% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also commented on BKU. Compass Point upped their target price on BankUnited from $42.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on BankUnited from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on BankUnited from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $37.00 price target on shares of BankUnited in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on BankUnited from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.40.

BankUnited Stock Performance

BankUnited stock opened at $40.80 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.25 and a beta of 1.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $39.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.57. BankUnited has a 52 week low of $24.34 and a 52 week high of $44.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 last year, the company earned $0.26 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that BankUnited will post 3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Thomas M. Cornish sold 10,778 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.11, for a total value of $421,527.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jay D. Richards sold 2,500 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,428,410.66. This represents a 6.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BKU. EMC Capital Management lifted its holdings in BankUnited by 162.6% during the 4th quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 9,915 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $378,000 after buying an additional 6,139 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in BankUnited during the 4th quarter worth approximately $113,000. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in BankUnited by 87.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,028 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $154,000 after buying an additional 1,883 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in BankUnited by 182.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in BankUnited by 462.0% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 27,955 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,067,000 after buying an additional 22,981 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.