Short Interest in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) Drops By 8.6%

BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,220,000 shares, a decrease of 8.6% from the October 31st total of 2,430,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 819,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days. Currently, 3.0% of the company’s stock are short sold.

BankUnited Stock Down 1.0 %

BKU traded down $0.41 on Tuesday, hitting $41.13. The company had a trading volume of 578,329 shares, compared to its average volume of 813,471. 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 has a 52-week low of $24.34 and a 52-week high of $44.45. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.92 and a beta of 1.36.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last issued 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 net margin of 9.06% and a return on equity of 8.09%. The company had revenue of $515.24 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $258.65 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that BankUnited will post 2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, October 11th were issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 11th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. BankUnited’s payout ratio is 47.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised BankUnited from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $38.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. 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. 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 report on Friday, September 27th. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of BankUnited from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Two 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Thomas M. Cornish sold 10,778 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.11, for a total value of $421,527.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,911,000. This represents a 9.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jay D. Richards sold 2,500 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now owns 34,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,428,410.66. The trade was 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BankUnited

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in BankUnited by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,583,059 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $134,144,000 after buying an additional 315,872 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of BankUnited by 49.2% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,247,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $65,778,000 after purchasing an additional 740,896 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of BankUnited by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,719,596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,674,000 after acquiring an additional 20,218 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of BankUnited by 37.3% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in BankUnited by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 663,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $24,163,000 after purchasing an additional 39,797 shares in the last quarter. 99.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.