BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) Short Interest Update

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKU has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $37.00 target price on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded BankUnited from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $38.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Wedbush raised their price target on BankUnited from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on BankUnited from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on BankUnited from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Two 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.10.

BankUnited Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BKU traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $41.01. 87,607 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 810,344. BankUnited has a 1-year low of $24.34 and a 1-year high of $44.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.85 and a beta of 1.36. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $37.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.77.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $515.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $258.65 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that BankUnited will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, October 11th were given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 11th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.54%.

Insider Activity

In other BankUnited news, insider Jay D. Richards sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.18, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 6.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas M. Cornish sold 10,778 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,911,000. This trade represents a 9.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.19% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BankUnited

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in BankUnited by 8.2% during 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 period. Denali Advisors LLC bought a new position in BankUnited during the second quarter valued at about $799,000. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC bought a new position in BankUnited during the third quarter valued at about $443,000. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in BankUnited during the second quarter valued at about $515,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in BankUnited by 7.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,778 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.70% 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.