Quest Partners LLC Takes Position in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 22,638 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $825,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in shares of BankUnited during the third quarter valued at about $257,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in BankUnited in the third quarter worth about $257,000. Versor Investments LP bought a new stake in BankUnited in the third quarter worth about $302,000. Wolverine Asset Management LLC raised its position in BankUnited by 25.8% in the third quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 11,061 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $403,000 after acquiring an additional 2,267 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in BankUnited by 37.3% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 868,806 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,659,000 after acquiring an additional 236,174 shares during the period. 99.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKU has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of BankUnited from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $37.00 price objective on shares of BankUnited in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of BankUnited from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $38.00 to $48.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Citigroup reduced 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BankUnited presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $37.40.

BankUnited Price Performance

Shares of BKU traded up $0.92 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $42.72. 658,473 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 819,936. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $36.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.97. The company has a market cap of $3.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.47 and a beta of 1.33. BankUnited, Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.34 and a 12-month high of $42.83.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $515.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $258.65 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. Research analysts expect that BankUnited, Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 2.72%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 11th. BankUnited's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BankUnited news, COO Thomas M. Cornish sold 10,778 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,911,000. The trade was a 9.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jay D. Richards sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.18, for a total value of $102,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 34,687 shares in the company, valued at $1,428,410.66. This represents a 6.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

BankUnited Company 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.