JPMorgan Chase & Co. Lowers Holdings in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut its position in shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 17.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,499,112 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 512,218 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in BankUnited were worth $91,068,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BankUnited in the second quarter valued at about $74,000. CWM LLC increased its holdings in BankUnited by 118.3% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $153,000 after buying an additional 2,280 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in BankUnited in the second quarter worth approximately $169,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in BankUnited by 17.4% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $169,000 after buying an additional 686 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in BankUnited during the 3rd quarter valued at $181,000. 99.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at BankUnited

In related news, COO Thomas M. Cornish sold 10,778 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.11, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jay D. Richards sold 2,500 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.18, for a total transaction of $102,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,428,410.66. The trade was a 6.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.19% of the company’s stock.

BankUnited Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:BKU opened at $37.92 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. BankUnited, Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.34 and a 52-week high of $44.45. The stock has a market cap of $2.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.54 and a beta of 1.36. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $39.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.40.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.07. The business 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. Equities analysts predict that BankUnited, Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKU has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their price objective on BankUnited from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of BankUnited from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $38.00 to $48.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $37.00 price objective on shares of BankUnited in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of BankUnited from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on BankUnited from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report 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 assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.36.

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.