BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.02 EPS

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.02, Briefing.com reports. BankUnited had a net margin of 9.19% and a return on equity of 8.38%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.70 earnings per share.

BankUnited Trading Up 2.9 %

NYSE BKU opened at $25.18 on Thursday. BankUnited has a one year low of $15.83 and a one year high of $34.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $26.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.97. The firm has a market cap of $1.88 billion, a PE ratio of 10.58 and a beta of 1.36.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. This is a positive change from BankUnited’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.61%. BankUnited’s payout ratio is currently 48.74%.

Insider Transactions at BankUnited

In other news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 2,285 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,750 shares in the company, valued at $319,365. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BKU. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of BankUnited by 83.4% during the fourth quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 2,918 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $99,000 after acquiring an additional 1,327 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in shares of BankUnited by 347.0% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,558 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $157,000 after acquiring an additional 2,762 shares during the period. Centiva Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of BankUnited during the second quarter worth about $200,000. Prelude Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BankUnited during the second quarter worth about $211,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in BankUnited by 13.9% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 6,355 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $217,000 after buying an additional 775 shares during the period. 99.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $33.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Wedbush reduced their price target on shares of BankUnited from $34.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 29th. UBS Group cut shares of BankUnited from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $29.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Barclays assumed 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 for the company. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of BankUnited from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, BankUnited currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.44.

About BankUnited

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.