Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Trims Stake in BankUnited, Inc. $BKU

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 45.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 13,456 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 11,288 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in BankUnited were worth $600,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of BankUnited in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of BankUnited by 158.2% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 940 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 576 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of BankUnited by 202.0% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of BankUnited by 4,293.5% in the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 1,331 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,366 shares during the period. 99.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,447 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.11, for a total value of $162,388.17. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 11,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $541,765. This represents a 23.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Sanjiv Sobti sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.88, for a total transaction of $254,400.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 18,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $957,358.08. This trade represents a 20.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BankUnited Stock Performance

Shares of BKU stock opened at $47.99 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.37 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.95. BankUnited, Inc. has a 12-month low of $33.05 and a 12-month high of $52.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $273.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $284.57 million. BankUnited had a return on equity of 9.11% and a net margin of 14.46%.During the same period last year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that BankUnited, Inc. will post 4.15 EPS for the current year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 10th. This is a positive change from BankUnited’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on BankUnited from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on BankUnited from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Barclays decreased their target price on BankUnited from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on BankUnited from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BankUnited has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.27.

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.