Fmr LLC Raises Stake in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Fmr LLC raised its position in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 40.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 275,556 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 78,753 shares during the quarter. Fmr LLC’s holdings in BankUnited were worth $10,041,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKU. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of BankUnited by 307.6% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 1,455 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of BankUnited by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 632,632 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,517,000 after buying an additional 48,059 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of BankUnited by 39.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,602 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $457,000 after buying an additional 4,437 shares during the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of BankUnited during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,784,000. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of BankUnited by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 37,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,101,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

BankUnited Price Performance

Shares of BKU opened at $41.24 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.90 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. BankUnited, Inc. has a one year low of $24.34 and a one year high of $44.45. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $38.59 and its 200-day moving average is $35.26.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last released its 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 firm had revenue of $515.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $258.65 million. BankUnited had a return on equity of 8.09% and a net margin of 9.06%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that BankUnited, Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, October 11th were given a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 11th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKU has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $37.00 price objective on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Compass Point lifted their target price on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of BankUnited from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of BankUnited from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $38.00 to $48.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BankUnited has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.45.

Insider Activity at BankUnited

In related news, COO Thomas M. Cornish sold 10,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.11, for a total value of $421,527.58. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,911,000. This trade represents a 9.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jay D. Richards sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.18, for a total value of $102,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,687 shares in the company, valued at $1,428,410.66. The trade was a 6.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

BankUnited 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.