Hennessy Advisors Inc. Reduces Holdings in BankUnited, Inc. $BKU

Hennessy Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 90,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,000 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in BankUnited were worth $3,203,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its position in shares of BankUnited by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 44,806 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,593,000 after purchasing an additional 3,389 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of BankUnited by 33.2% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 22,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $860,000 after purchasing an additional 5,638 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BankUnited in the 2nd quarter worth about $257,000. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of BankUnited in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of BankUnited by 17.7% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 85,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,947,000 after purchasing an additional 12,873 shares during the period. 99.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at BankUnited

In other BankUnited news, insider Jay D. Richards sold 3,942 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.81, for a total transaction of $152,989.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 39,193 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,521,080.33. This trade represents a 9.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.79, for a total transaction of $135,765.00. Following the sale, the director owned 43,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,675,921.95. This represents a 7.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on BKU. Hovde Group raised their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $43.00 price target (up from $41.00) on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $44.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of BankUnited from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.91.

BankUnited Stock Up 0.5%

NYSE:BKU opened at $38.27 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.22 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. BankUnited, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $28.21 and a fifty-two week high of $44.45. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.68.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $273.93 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $267.17 million. BankUnited had a net margin of 13.19% and a return on equity of 9.00%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.72 EPS. Analysts predict that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 10th. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.