BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) Short Interest Up 6.0% in October

BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU - Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,630,000 shares, an increase of 6.0% from the September 30th total of 2,480,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 749,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.5 days. Approximately 3.6% of the company's stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKU has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wedbush lifted their price target 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. Barclays lifted their target price on BankUnited from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on BankUnited from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $37.00 price target on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on BankUnited from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $36.40.

Institutional Trading of BankUnited

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of BankUnited by 307.6% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,928 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 1,455 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in BankUnited in the 1st quarter valued at about $57,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BankUnited during the 2nd quarter worth about $74,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of BankUnited in the second quarter valued at approximately $169,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of BankUnited by 17.4% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,637 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $169,000 after buying an additional 686 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.70% of the company's stock.

BankUnited Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BKU traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $35.40. 763,920 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 811,615. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.67. BankUnited has a 1-year low of $22.16 and a 1-year high of $39.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market cap of $2.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.51 and a beta of 1.33.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $515.24 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 firm earned $0.63 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that BankUnited will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 11th were issued a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 11th. BankUnited's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.54%.

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.