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

BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,430,000 shares, a decline of 7.6% from the October 15th total of 2,630,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 761,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.2 days. Approximately 3.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

BankUnited Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BKU opened at $40.71 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $36.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.69. BankUnited has a 1-year low of $24.34 and a 1-year high of $41.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.68 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 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 business earned $0.63 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that BankUnited will post 2.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, October 11th were issued 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 dividend yield of 2.85%. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on BKU shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $37.00 price objective on shares of BankUnited in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush boosted their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of BankUnited from $34.50 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of BankUnited from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised 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 research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Thomas M. Cornish sold 10,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 $3,911,000. The trade was a 9.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BankUnited

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,483,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $265,542,000 after acquiring an additional 280,993 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $134,144,000 after acquiring an additional 315,872 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 740,896 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 1.2% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 37.3% in 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

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.