Wells Fargo & Company Lowers BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Price Target to $42.00

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) had its price target dropped by Wells Fargo & Company from $50.00 to $42.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 29.13% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on BKU. StockNews.com downgraded shares of BankUnited from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Hovde Group cut their target price on BankUnited from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Compass Point boosted their price objective on BankUnited from $42.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays decreased their target price on BankUnited from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Piper Sandler raised BankUnited from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $41.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.18.

BankUnited Stock Up 10.3 %

Shares of BKU stock traded up $3.05 on Wednesday, hitting $32.53. The stock had a trading volume of 640,542 shares, compared to its average volume of 773,264. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $36.27 and its 200-day moving average is $37.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.48 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.86. BankUnited has a 52-week low of $24.34 and a 52-week high of $44.45.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last released 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that BankUnited will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at BankUnited

In related news, Director Sanjiv Sobti purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $32.83 per share, with a total value of $32,830.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 21,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $715,103.06. The trade was a 4.81 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,234 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.18, for a total value of $113,772.12. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $430,955. The trade was a 20.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BankUnited

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in BankUnited by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,821,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $107,696,000 after acquiring an additional 322,368 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BankUnited by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 362,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,836,000 after purchasing an additional 10,064 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in BankUnited in the fourth quarter worth $766,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in BankUnited by 462.0% during the fourth 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. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC bought a new position in BankUnited during the third quarter valued at about $347,000. 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.