Royce & Associates LP Cuts Position in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Royce & Associates LP lessened its holdings in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU - Free Report) by 15.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,113,499 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 210,181 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP owned 1.49% of BankUnited worth $40,576,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BKU. CWM LLC boosted its position in 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 bought a new position in BankUnited in the first quarter valued at about $57,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BankUnited during the second quarter valued at about $74,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of BankUnited by 17.4% in 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. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in BankUnited in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $181,000. Institutional investors own 99.70% of the company's stock.

BankUnited Price Performance

BKU traded up $0.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $40.71. 972,723 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 820,869. The company's 50-day moving average is $36.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.51. BankUnited, Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.34 and a 12-month high of $41.65. The company has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.67 and a beta of 1.33. 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 (NYSE:BKU - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.07. BankUnited had a net margin of 9.06% and a return on equity of 8.09%. The business 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 firm posted $0.63 EPS. Research analysts forecast that BankUnited, Inc. will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 11th were paid a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 11th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. BankUnited's dividend payout ratio is presently 47.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on BKU shares. Barclays upped their price target on BankUnited from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of BankUnited from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the company from $38.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $37.00 price target on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $34.50 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Hovde Group boosted their target price on shares of BankUnited from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $37.40.

Insider Transactions at BankUnited

In other news, COO Thomas M. Cornish sold 10,778 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.11, for a total value of $421,527.58. Following the completion of 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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.