Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Holdings in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU – Get Rating) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 472,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,012 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in BankUnited were worth $16,035,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BKU. Neo Ivy Capital Management raised its position in shares of BankUnited by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management now owns 10,394 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $355,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the period. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of BankUnited by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 2,919 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of BankUnited by 31.3% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in BankUnited by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 10,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $357,000 after buying an additional 511 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in BankUnited by 2.9% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 18,775 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $826,000 after buying an additional 533 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Hovde Group upgraded shares of BankUnited from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 27th. Piper Sandler raised BankUnited from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. TheStreet lowered BankUnited from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Friday, April 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on BankUnited from $31.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of BankUnited from $36.00 to $25.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, BankUnited currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.11.

Insider Activity at BankUnited

In other BankUnited news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 1,406 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.21, for a total transaction of $49,505.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $352,100. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

BankUnited Stock Up 4.3 %

BankUnited stock opened at $20.05 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97. BankUnited, Inc. has a 1-year low of $15.83 and a 1-year high of $42.17. The company has a market cap of $1.49 billion, a PE ratio of 5.79 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $20.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.07.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.93 by ($0.23). BankUnited had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 10.93%. The company had revenue of $456.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $264.73 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.79 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 12th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is an increase from BankUnited’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.39%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 11th. BankUnited’s payout ratio is currently 31.21%.

BankUnited Company Profile

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BankUnited, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of commercial and consumer banking services through its subsidiary, BankUnited, N.A.. Its services include corporate banking, commercial real estate, treasury management, business checking accounts, business online banking solutions, and home mortgages.