BNP Paribas Financial Markets Grows Stake in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 211.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 59,594 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 40,461 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in BankUnited were worth $2,172,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of BKU. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of BankUnited by 307.6% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 1,455 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in BankUnited in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $74,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in BankUnited in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $169,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in BankUnited by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $169,000 after purchasing an additional 686 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new position in BankUnited during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $175,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

BankUnited Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:BKU opened at $41.70 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $38.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.09 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 1 year low of $24.34 and a 1 year high of $44.45.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.07. BankUnited had a return on equity of 8.09% and a net margin of 9.06%. The business had revenue of $515.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $258.65 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that BankUnited, Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 11th. BankUnited’s payout ratio is 47.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BKU. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of BankUnited from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of BankUnited from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $37.00 price target on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two 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 MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.70.

Insider Activity at BankUnited

In other news, insider Jay D. Richards sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,428,410.66. This represents a 6.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas M. Cornish sold 10,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.11, for a total value of $421,527.58. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,911,000. This 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.

About BankUnited

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.