BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.02 EPS

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) posted its earnings results on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.02, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $508.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $239.84 million. BankUnited had a net margin of 8.71% and a return on equity of 8.06%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS.

BankUnited Price Performance

BKU stock opened at $25.89 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.16 and a beta of 1.36. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $26.79 and its 200 day moving average is $26.96. BankUnited has a 52 week low of $15.83 and a 52 week high of $34.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.88.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.48%. This is a positive change from BankUnited’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. BankUnited’s payout ratio is presently 50.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BKU. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of BankUnited from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on BankUnited from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 4th. UBS Group downgraded 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. StockNews.com cut shares of BankUnited from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BankUnited news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 2,285 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 11,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $319,365. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKU. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its stake in shares of BankUnited by 1.1% in the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 48,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,039,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in BankUnited by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 18,775 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $826,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in BankUnited by 13.9% in 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 last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP grew its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 11,891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $404,000 after buying an additional 1,029 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of BankUnited by 9.3% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $503,000 after acquiring an additional 1,255 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

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.