Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Grows Stake in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its position in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 74,966 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,087 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned 0.10% of BankUnited worth $2,732,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BKU. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of BankUnited in the third quarter valued at about $1,261,000. MML Investors Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of BankUnited in the 3rd quarter valued at about $347,000. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of BankUnited in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $315,000. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of BankUnited by 194.1% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 193,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,035,000 after purchasing an additional 127,415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in BankUnited during the third quarter valued at approximately $5,302,000. Institutional investors own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Thomas M. Cornish sold 10,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $3,911,000. This represents a 9.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jay D. Richards sold 2,500 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.18, for a total value of $102,950.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 34,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,428,410.66. This represents a 6.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.19% of the company’s stock.

BankUnited Price Performance

NYSE BKU opened at $40.82 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.73 and a beta of 1.36. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $38.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.58. BankUnited, Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.34 and a 1 year high of $44.45.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $258.65 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that BankUnited, Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 11th were issued a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 11th. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wedbush lifted their price target on BankUnited from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of BankUnited from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Compass Point boosted their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $37.00 target price on shares of BankUnited in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.45.

BankUnited 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.