Wedbush Has Bearish Estimate for BankUnited Q4 Earnings

BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) – Analysts at Wedbush reduced their Q4 2024 earnings estimates for BankUnited in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush analyst D. Chiaverini now forecasts that the financial services provider will post earnings of $0.66 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $0.76. Wedbush currently has a “Neutral” rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for BankUnited’s current full-year earnings is $2.86 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for BankUnited’s Q1 2025 earnings at $0.70 EPS and Q2 2025 earnings at $0.69 EPS.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $515.24 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $258.65 million. BankUnited had a return on equity of 7.76% and a net margin of 8.41%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.63 EPS.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on BKU. Hovde Group increased their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on BankUnited from $34.50 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Barclays lifted their target price on BankUnited from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BankUnited has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.40.

BankUnited Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of BankUnited stock opened at $35.41 on Friday. BankUnited has a 1 year low of $21.02 and a 1 year high of $39.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market cap of $2.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.26 and a beta of 1.33. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $36.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.36.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BankUnited

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BKU. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of BankUnited by 307.6% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 1,455 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in BankUnited in the 1st quarter valued at $57,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in BankUnited in the 2nd quarter worth $74,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in BankUnited during the second quarter worth $169,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in BankUnited by 17.4% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $169,000 after purchasing an additional 686 shares in the last quarter. 99.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William S. Rubenstein sold 7,864 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.57, for a total value of $303,314.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $396,576.74. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, October 11th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 11th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.00%.

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.