Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 19.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 343,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 83,750 shares during the quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC’s holdings in BankUnited were worth $12,520,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake 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. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in shares of BankUnited by 3,901.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 574,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,803,000 after purchasing an additional 559,720 shares during the period. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of BankUnited in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $17,745,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of BankUnited by 741.7% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 397,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,628,000 after purchasing an additional 350,071 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BankUnited by 3,658.4% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 325,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,537,000 after purchasing an additional 317,143 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

BankUnited Trading Down 0.9 %

BankUnited stock opened at $41.15 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $37.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.77. BankUnited, Inc. 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 cap of $3.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.86 and a beta of 1.36.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $515.24 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $258.65 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.63 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that BankUnited, Inc. will post 2.89 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. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 11th. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKU has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of BankUnited from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of 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 note on Wednesday, November 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of BankUnited from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $37.00 target price on shares of BankUnited in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BankUnited presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.70.

Insider Activity at BankUnited

In other BankUnited news, COO Thomas M. Cornish sold 10,778 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.11, for a total transaction of $421,527.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jay D. Richards sold 2,500 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly 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 insiders.

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.