Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in BankUnited, Inc. $BKU

Key Points

• Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in BankUnited, Inc. by 6.4%, now holding approximately 325,066 shares worth $11.2 million.
• Various analysts have raised their price targets for BankUnited, with Citigroup increasing its target from $36 to $38 and Barclays from $41 to $43.
• BankUnited recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.31 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 3.2%.

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU - Free Report) by 6.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 325,066 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 22,404 shares during the quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.43% of BankUnited worth $11,195,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in BankUnited during the 4th quarter worth $216,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of BankUnited by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 44,796 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,710,000 after buying an additional 1,791 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,174 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 932 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 34.5% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 31,867 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,220,000 after buying an additional 8,173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new position in BankUnited in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,756,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.70% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on BKU shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on BankUnited from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Barclays increased their price target on BankUnited from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Hovde Group upped their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating on shares of BankUnited in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $41.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John N. Digiacomo sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.43, for a total transaction of $34,430.00. Following the sale, the director owned 14,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $499,785.88. The trade was a 6.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 3,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.79, for a total value of $135,765.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 43,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,675,921.95. This represents a 7.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 8,442 shares of company stock worth $323,184. 1.15% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

BankUnited Trading Up 5.5%

NYSE:BKU opened at $38.8870 on Friday. BankUnited, Inc. has a 1 year low of $28.21 and a 1 year high of $44.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $36.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.40 and a beta of 1.32.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.12. BankUnited had a net margin of 13.19% and a return on equity of 9.00%. The company had revenue of $273.93 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $267.17 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.72 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Investors of record on Friday, July 11th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 11th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. BankUnited's payout ratio is currently 36.36%.

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.

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