Insider Selling: BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) Director Sells 7,864 Shares of Stock

BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) Director William S. Rubenstein sold 7,864 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.57, for a total transaction of $303,314.48. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $396,576.74. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

BankUnited Stock Down 2.9 %

NYSE:BKU traded down $1.05 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $35.64. 1,073,424 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 846,324. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.66. BankUnited, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.84 and a fifty-two week high of $39.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The company has a market capitalization of $2.66 billion, a PE ratio of 15.81 and a beta of 1.34.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $250.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $243.65 million. BankUnited had a net margin of 8.41% and a return on equity of 7.76%. BankUnited’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that BankUnited, Inc. will post 2.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Investors of record on Friday, July 12th were issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 12th. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BKU shares. StockNews.com raised shares of BankUnited from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of BankUnited from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of BankUnited from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $30.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $34.40.

Institutional Trading of BankUnited

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in BankUnited by 38.9% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 226,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,354,000 after buying an additional 63,520 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in BankUnited during the fourth quarter worth about $1,329,000. Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in BankUnited by 41.8% during the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 179,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,810,000 after buying an additional 52,788 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in BankUnited by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,202,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $298,442,000 after buying an additional 332,567 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new stake in BankUnited during the fourth quarter worth about $1,331,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.