BankUnited, Inc. $BKU Shares Sold by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced its stake in shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,229,399 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 304,029 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in BankUnited were worth $85,074,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in BankUnited by 11.7% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 334,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,767,000 after buying an additional 34,952 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of BankUnited by 1.7% during the third quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 40,026 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,527,000 after acquiring an additional 660 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its position in BankUnited by 59.1% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 24,744 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $944,000 after purchasing an additional 9,194 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in BankUnited by 23.5% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC lifted its holdings in BankUnited by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 23,826 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $909,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKU has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating on shares of BankUnited in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of BankUnited from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Zacks Research raised BankUnited from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on BankUnited from $42.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BankUnited presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.45.

BankUnited Price Performance

BKU stock opened at $48.15 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $47.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.31. BankUnited, Inc. has a 52-week low of $28.21 and a 52-week high of $52.11. The company has a market capitalization of $3.62 billion, a PE ratio of 13.60 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $288.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $279.76 million. BankUnited had a return on equity of 9.09% and a net margin of 14.14%.During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. Analysts predict that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 9th were given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 9th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. BankUnited’s payout ratio is presently 35.03%.

Insider Activity

In other BankUnited news, insider Jay D. Richards sold 3,506 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.83, for a total transaction of $174,703.98. Following the sale, the insider owned 35,687 shares in the company, valued at $1,778,283.21. This represents a 8.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Sanjiv Sobti sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.88, for a total value of $254,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 18,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $957,358.08. This trade represents a 20.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

BankUnited Profile

BankUnited, Inc is a bank holding company based in Miami Lakes, Florida, operating through its subsidiary BankUnited, National Association. The company provides a broad range of commercial banking products and services, including deposit accounts, commercial lending and treasury management. It serves middle-market and small-business clients, offering tailored financing solutions across a variety of industry sectors.

The bank’s lending portfolio includes commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate loans and construction financing, as well as residential mortgage lending.