Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC Sells 83,750 Shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU - Free Report) by 19.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 343,570 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 83,750 shares during the quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC owned about 0.46% of BankUnited worth $12,520,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in BankUnited by 8.2% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 632,632 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $18,517,000 after acquiring an additional 48,059 shares during the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of BankUnited in the second quarter valued at approximately $799,000. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BankUnited in the third quarter valued at approximately $443,000. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BankUnited in the second quarter valued at approximately $515,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of BankUnited by 7.2% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 41,438 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,213,000 after purchasing an additional 2,778 shares during the period. 99.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BKU. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of BankUnited from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of BankUnited from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of BankUnited from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $38.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of BankUnited from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $40.10.

BankUnited Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE:BKU traded up $0.39 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $41.52. 496,827 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 812,915. The stock has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a PE ratio of 17.02 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.34 and a twelve month high of $44.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $38.00 and a 200 day moving average of $34.82.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU - Get Free Report) last released 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. BankUnited had a return on equity of 8.09% and a net margin of 9.06%. The company had revenue of $515.24 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $258.65 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that BankUnited, Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 11th were given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 11th. BankUnited's payout ratio is 47.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jay D. Richards sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.18, for a total value of $102,950.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,428,410.66. This trade represents a 6.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Thomas M. Cornish sold 10,778 shares of BankUnited 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,911,000. The trade was a 9.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company 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.