BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) Shares Sold by Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. decreased its holdings in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 40.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 8,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,813 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in BankUnited were worth $333,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC grew its position in BankUnited by 118.3% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $153,000 after buying an additional 2,280 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in BankUnited by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $169,000 after purchasing an additional 686 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in BankUnited in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $181,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in BankUnited in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $169,000. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new position in BankUnited in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $257,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKU has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of BankUnited from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $38.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $37.00 price objective on shares of BankUnited in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Compass Point lifted their target price on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of BankUnited from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $42.60.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jay D. Richards sold 2,500 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $1,428,410.66. This trade represents a 6.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Thomas M. Cornish sold 10,778 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.11, for a total transaction of $421,527.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,911,000. This trade represents a 9.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BankUnited Stock Up 0.6 %

BankUnited stock opened at $40.07 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.42 and a beta of 1.38. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. BankUnited, Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.34 and a 1-year high of $44.45.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $515.24 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $258.65 million. BankUnited had a net margin of 9.06% and a return on equity of 8.09%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that BankUnited, Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.90%. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.54%.

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.