BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 368,742 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 17,410 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in BankUnited were worth $10,793,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its position in BankUnited by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 37,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,101,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in BankUnited during the second quarter valued at $2,784,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in BankUnited by 39.7% in the second quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,602 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $457,000 after buying an additional 4,437 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of 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 worth $18,517,000 after acquiring an additional 48,059 shares during the period. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of BankUnited by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 58,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,699,000 after acquiring an additional 938 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

BankUnited Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of BKU stock opened at $35.81 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. BankUnited, Inc. has a twelve month low of $20.84 and a twelve month high of $39.51. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $35.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.25. The stock has a market cap of $2.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.44 and a beta of 1.35.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.07. The company 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 was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.78 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that BankUnited, Inc. will post 2.88 earnings per share for the current year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Investors of record on Friday, July 12th were given a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 12th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. BankUnited’s payout ratio is 50.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William S. Rubenstein sold 7,864 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.57, for a total value of $303,314.48. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $396,576.74. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director William S. Rubenstein sold 7,864 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.57, for a total value of $303,314.48. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,282 shares in the company, valued at approximately $396,576.74. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.50, for a total transaction of $127,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 43,654 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,593,371. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,507 shares of company stock valued at $802,400 over the last quarter. 1.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKU has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Hovde Group lifted their price target on BankUnited from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Wedbush increased their target price on BankUnited from $30.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on BankUnited from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on BankUnited from $34.50 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of BankUnited from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.40.

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.