BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) Short Interest Update

BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,220,000 shares, a decline of 8.6% from the October 31st total of 2,430,000 shares. Currently, 3.0% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 819,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Insider Activity at BankUnited

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BankUnited

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BKU. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in BankUnited by 5.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 56,974 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,097,000 after acquiring an additional 2,856 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,719,596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,674,000 after purchasing an additional 20,218 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 48.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 183,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,677,000 after purchasing an additional 59,644 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its position in shares of BankUnited by 8.8% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 74,966 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,732,000 after purchasing an additional 6,087 shares during the period. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in BankUnited in the third quarter valued at about $1,261,000. 99.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BankUnited Stock Down 0.3 %

BKU stock traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $41.01. 87,607 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 810,344. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $37.88 and its 200-day moving average is $34.77. The company has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.85 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. BankUnited has a 12 month low of $24.34 and a 12 month high of $44.45.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $515.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $258.65 million. BankUnited had a return on equity of 8.09% and a net margin of 9.06%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that BankUnited will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 11th were issued a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 11th. BankUnited’s payout ratio is 47.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on BKU shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on BankUnited from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on BankUnited from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays increased their price target on BankUnited from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $37.00 price objective on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, BankUnited currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.10.

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.