Empowered Funds LLC Trims Holdings in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Empowered Funds LLC decreased its holdings in shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 23.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 229,636 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 70,569 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC owned about 0.31% of BankUnited worth $8,368,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in BankUnited by 8.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 48,059 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 valued at $265,542,000 after purchasing an additional 280,993 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd increased its stake in BankUnited by 145.8% during the first quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 48,984 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,370,000 after purchasing an additional 29,058 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LP raised its position in shares of BankUnited by 202.7% during the 1st quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 60,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,696,000 after purchasing an additional 40,557 shares during the period. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC acquired a new position in BankUnited during the 2nd quarter valued at about $799,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BKU shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $37.00 target price on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup cut their price target on BankUnited from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of BankUnited from $34.50 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised BankUnited from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $38.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on BankUnited from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, BankUnited has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at BankUnited

In related news, COO Thomas M. Cornish sold 10,778 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.19% of the company’s stock.

BankUnited Price Performance

Shares of BankUnited stock opened at $40.71 on Friday. BankUnited, Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.34 and a 52 week high of $41.65. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The company has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.68 and a beta of 1.33.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $515.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $258.65 million. BankUnited had a return on equity of 8.09% and a net margin of 9.06%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.63 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that BankUnited, Inc. will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 11th were issued a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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%.

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.