JPMorgan Chase & Co. Reduces Stake in BankUnited, Inc. $BKU

JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased its holdings in shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,229,399 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 304,029 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 2.96% of BankUnited worth $85,074,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in BankUnited in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in shares of BankUnited in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of BankUnited by 202.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,217 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 814 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in BankUnited by 4,293.5% during the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 1,331 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its position in BankUnited by 7,588.9% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,384 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 1,366 shares during the last quarter. 99.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at BankUnited

In other BankUnited news, Director Sanjiv Sobti sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.88, for a total value of $254,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 18,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $957,358.08. This trade represents a 20.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jay D. Richards sold 3,506 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.83, for a total value of $174,703.98. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 35,687 shares in the company, valued at $1,778,283.21. This trade represents a 8.95% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKU has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup raised their price objective on BankUnited from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Hovde Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of BankUnited in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on BankUnited from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on BankUnited from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.45.

BankUnited Stock Performance

NYSE BKU opened at $48.15 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.60 and a beta of 1.30. The business’s 50 day moving average is $47.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.31. BankUnited, Inc. has a 12-month low of $28.21 and a 12-month high of $52.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.09. BankUnited had a return on equity of 9.09% and a net margin of 14.14%.The business had revenue of $288.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $279.76 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.91 EPS. Research analysts expect that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 9th were issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 9th. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.03%.

BankUnited Profile

BankUnited, Inc is a bank holding company based in Miami Lakes, Florida, operating through its subsidiary BankUnited, National Association. The company provides a broad range of commercial banking products and services, including deposit accounts, commercial lending and treasury management. It serves middle-market and small-business clients, offering tailored financing solutions across a variety of industry sectors.

The bank’s lending portfolio includes commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate loans and construction financing, as well as residential mortgage lending.