BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) saw a large increase in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,630,000 shares, an increase of 6.0% from the September 30th total of 2,480,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 749,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.5 days. Currently, 3.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKU has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of BankUnited from $34.50 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Hovde Group increased their price target on BankUnited from $33.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays lifted their price target on BankUnited from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $37.00 price objective on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on BankUnited from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.40.

BankUnited Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE BKU traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $35.40. The company had a trading volume of 763,920 shares, compared to its average volume of 811,595. The company has a market capitalization of $2.65 billion, a PE ratio of 14.51 and a beta of 1.33. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.67. BankUnited has a 1-year low of $22.16 and a 1-year high of $39.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.07. BankUnited had a return on equity of 8.09% and a net margin of 9.06%. The business had revenue of $515.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $258.65 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. On average, analysts predict that BankUnited will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 11th were given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 11th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.28%. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.54%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BankUnited

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKU. CWM LLC increased its position in BankUnited by 307.6% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 1,455 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in BankUnited in the 1st quarter valued at $57,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in BankUnited during the 2nd quarter worth $74,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in BankUnited during the 2nd quarter worth $169,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in BankUnited by 17.4% in 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

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.