Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 4.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 352,423 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 16,319 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.47% of BankUnited worth $12,842,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BKU. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BankUnited during the second quarter worth about $74,000. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,280 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of BankUnited in the second quarter worth $169,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in BankUnited by 17.4% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $169,000 after purchasing an additional 686 shares during the period. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new stake in BankUnited in the second quarter valued at $175,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at BankUnited

In related news, insider Jay D. Richards sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.18, for a total value of $102,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 34,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,428,410.66. This trade represents a 6.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Thomas M. Cornish sold 10,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.11, for a total value of $421,527.58. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly 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. Insiders own 1.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKU has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on BankUnited from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $37.00 price target on shares of BankUnited in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of BankUnited from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $38.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.36.

BankUnited Stock Down 1.0 %

BKU stock opened at $38.41 on Friday. BankUnited, Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.34 and a 52 week high of $44.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.74 and a beta of 1.36.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $515.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $258.65 million. BankUnited had a return on equity of 8.09% and a net margin of 9.06%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.63 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that BankUnited, Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.02%. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.54%.

About BankUnited

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.