StockNews.com Downgrades BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) to Hold

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on BKU. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Compass Point lifted their price objective on BankUnited from $42.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on BankUnited from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on BankUnited from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised BankUnited from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $41.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BankUnited currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.18.

BankUnited Stock Performance

Shares of BKU stock opened at $34.83 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $38.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market cap of $2.60 billion, a PE ratio of 11.31 and a beta of 1.40. BankUnited has a 1 year low of $24.34 and a 1 year high of $44.45.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share 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 previous year, the company earned $0.26 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that BankUnited will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction of $113,772.12. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,250 shares in the company, valued at $430,955. This represents a 20.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Sanjiv Sobti bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $32.83 per share, for a total transaction of $32,830.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $715,103.06. The trade was a 4.81 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.19% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BankUnited

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of BankUnited during the 4th quarter valued at $34,525,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in BankUnited in the fourth quarter valued at $30,499,000. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC purchased a new stake in BankUnited during the fourth quarter valued at about $18,663,000. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in BankUnited during the third quarter worth about $17,745,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings 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 worth $107,696,000 after purchasing an additional 322,368 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.