Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 9,750 Shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU - Free Report) by 2.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 372,237 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 9,750 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.49% of BankUnited worth $12,820,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BKU. Atria Investments Inc boosted its stake in BankUnited by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 8,230 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 555 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BankUnited during the fourth quarter worth about $766,000. Amundi raised its position in shares of BankUnited by 186.9% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 37,752 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,456,000 after purchasing an additional 24,592 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of BankUnited by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 147,100 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,615,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Finally, Vestcor Inc raised its position in shares of BankUnited by 127.7% during the fourth quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 17,416 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $665,000 after purchasing an additional 9,766 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.70% of the company's stock.

BankUnited Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of BankUnited stock opened at $37.22 on Friday. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $35.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.79. BankUnited, Inc. has a 52-week low of $28.21 and a 52-week high of $44.45. The firm has a market cap of $2.80 billion, a PE ratio of 11.56 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $255.41 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $264.35 million. BankUnited had a return on equity of 8.66% and a net margin of 12.26%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 11th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 11th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. BankUnited's dividend payout ratio is 38.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKU has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on BankUnited from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on BankUnited in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "hold" rating and a $39.00 price target on the stock. Hovde Group dropped their price target on BankUnited from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on BankUnited from $50.00 to $42.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on BankUnited from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $40.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BankUnited news, CFO Leslie Lunak sold 22,776 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.56, for a total value of $764,362.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,899 shares in the company, valued at $2,010,210.44. This trade represents a 27.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director John N. Digiacomo sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.43, for a total value of $34,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 14,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $499,785.88. This represents a 6.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.15% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

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