BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) Short Interest Up 5.8% in March

BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,470,000 shares, an increase of 5.8% from the March 15th total of 3,280,000 shares. Currently, 4.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 896,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.9 days.

BankUnited Price Performance

BankUnited stock traded down $0.47 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $24.47. The stock had a trading volume of 1,080,414 shares, compared to its average volume of 888,437. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.28 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The firm's 50 day moving average is $26.81 and its 200 day moving average is $26.97. BankUnited has a one year low of $15.83 and a one year high of $34.22.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.69 by ($0.42). The company had revenue of $500.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $244.11 million. BankUnited had a return on equity of 8.38% and a net margin of 9.19%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.82 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that BankUnited will post 2.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.74%. This is a boost from BankUnited's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. BankUnited's dividend payout ratio is currently 48.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays assumed coverage on BankUnited in a research note on Friday, March 8th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $29.00 target price on the stock. Wedbush cut their target price on BankUnited from $34.00 to $31.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on BankUnited from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Citigroup cut their price objective on BankUnited from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on BankUnited from $33.00 to $29.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $30.44.

Insider Activity at BankUnited

In other news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 2,285 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.18, for a total transaction of $62,106.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,750 shares of the company's stock, valued at $319,365. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of BankUnited

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in BankUnited by 24.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 124,072 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,042,000 after purchasing an additional 24,498 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in BankUnited by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,539,176 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $34,939,000 after purchasing an additional 290,232 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC raised its position in BankUnited by 84.6% in the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 262,741 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,964,000 after purchasing an additional 120,441 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in BankUnited by 129.1% in the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 70,116 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,592,000 after purchasing an additional 39,507 shares during the period. Finally, Graham Capital Management L.P. raised its position in BankUnited by 272.2% in the 3rd quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 132,681 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,012,000 after purchasing an additional 97,034 shares during the period. 99.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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