BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Upgraded to “Moderate Buy” at Raymond James Financial

Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) to a moderate buy rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

BKU has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of BankUnited in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of BankUnited in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $43.00 price objective on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $44.00 target price on shares of BankUnited in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BankUnited presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.00.

BankUnited Trading Down 0.1%

BankUnited stock opened at $46.65 on Wednesday. BankUnited has a 52-week low of $28.21 and a 52-week high of $46.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.14 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $43.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.08.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.11. BankUnited had a return on equity of 9.18% and a net margin of 13.98%.The company had revenue of $275.68 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $280.33 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.81 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that BankUnited will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.93%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BankUnited

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of BankUnited during the 4th quarter worth about $101,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of BankUnited in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,448,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in BankUnited by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $254,000 after purchasing an additional 558 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL bought a new stake in BankUnited during the third quarter worth approximately $7,599,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC bought a new stake in BankUnited during the third quarter worth approximately $95,000. 99.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BankUnited Company Profile

BankUnited, Inc is a bank holding company based in Miami Lakes, Florida, operating through its subsidiary BankUnited, National Association. The company provides a broad range of commercial banking products and services, including deposit accounts, commercial lending and treasury management. It serves middle-market and small-business clients, offering tailored financing solutions across a variety of industry sectors.

The bank’s lending portfolio includes commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate loans and construction financing, as well as residential mortgage lending.