Royce & Associates LP Sells 210,181 Shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Royce & Associates LP cut its stake in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 15.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,113,499 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 210,181 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned approximately 1.49% of BankUnited worth $40,576,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BKU. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in BankUnited by 49.2% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,247,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $65,778,000 after purchasing an additional 740,896 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 3,901.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 574,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,803,000 after acquiring an additional 559,720 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 741.7% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 397,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,628,000 after acquiring an additional 350,071 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 3,658.4% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 325,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,537,000 after acquiring an additional 317,143 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,583,059 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $134,144,000 after acquiring an additional 315,872 shares during the period. 99.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on BKU. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $34.50 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of BankUnited from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $38.00 to $48.00 in a report on Wednesday. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $37.00 target price on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.40.

BankUnited Trading Up 0.9 %

BKU opened at $40.67 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a PE ratio of 16.67 and a beta of 1.33. BankUnited, Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.34 and a 1-year high of $41.65. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $36.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.51.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $515.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $258.65 million. BankUnited had a net margin of 9.06% and a return on equity of 8.09%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.63 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that BankUnited, Inc. will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 11th were given a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 11th. BankUnited’s payout ratio is presently 47.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BankUnited

In other news, COO Thomas M. Cornish sold 10,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.11, for a total value of $421,527.58. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.19% of the company’s stock.

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.