Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Cuts BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Price Target to $31.00

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) had its price target reduced by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $33.00 to $31.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “market perform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 20.34% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group cut shares of BankUnited from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $29.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of BankUnited from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of BankUnited from $33.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays began coverage on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Friday, March 8th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $29.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of BankUnited from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BankUnited presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.50.

BankUnited Stock Performance

BKU stock traded up $0.57 on Thursday, hitting $25.76. The company had a trading volume of 46,958 shares, compared to its average volume of 886,053. BankUnited has a 12-month low of $15.83 and a 12-month high of $34.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.97. The stock has a market cap of $1.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.78 and a beta of 1.36.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.02. BankUnited had a net margin of 9.19% and a return on equity of 8.38%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.70 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that BankUnited will post 2.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at BankUnited

In related news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 2,285 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.18, for a total transaction of $62,106.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $319,365. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BankUnited

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in BankUnited by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,202,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $298,442,000 after buying an additional 332,567 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,828,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $231,967,000 after purchasing an additional 306,521 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,684,665 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $249,898,000 after purchasing an additional 252,653 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,887,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $170,895,000 after purchasing an additional 177,718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,427,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $78,708,000 after purchasing an additional 80,577 shares in the last quarter. 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.