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

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

BankUnited Trading Up 2.8 %

NYSE BKU 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $26.79 and its 200-day moving average is $26.96. BankUnited has a one year low of $15.83 and a one year high of $34.22.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.48%. This is a boost from BankUnited’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on BKU shares. Wedbush cut their target price on BankUnited from $34.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Barclays assumed coverage on BankUnited in a research note on Friday, March 8th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $29.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group lowered BankUnited from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $29.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 8th. StockNews.com lowered BankUnited from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on BankUnited from $33.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BankUnited currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.50.

Insider Transactions at BankUnited

In other news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 2,285 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.18, for a total transaction of $62,106.30. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $319,365. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BankUnited

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BKU. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in BankUnited by 347.0% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its position in BankUnited by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 80,697 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,547,000 after acquiring an additional 5,716 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position 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 worth $826,000 after acquiring an additional 533 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its position in BankUnited by 14.7% during the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 33,882 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,489,000 after acquiring an additional 4,348 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of BankUnited by 46.8% during the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 44,612 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,961,000 after purchasing an additional 14,213 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.