Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Reduces Stock Position in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lessened its position in shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 64,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,609 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in BankUnited were worth $1,893,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,202,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $298,442,000 after buying an additional 332,567 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 3,658.4% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 325,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,537,000 after buying an additional 317,143 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,583,059 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $134,144,000 after buying an additional 315,872 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 171.8% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 294,619 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,623,000 after buying an additional 186,225 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 935,237 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,330,000 after buying an additional 136,291 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.50, for a total value of $127,750.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 43,654 shares in the company, valued at $1,593,371. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other BankUnited news, insider Jay D. Richards sold 10,143 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.61, for a total value of $371,335.23. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,187 shares in the company, valued at $1,361,416.07. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.50, for a total value of $127,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 43,654 shares in the company, valued at $1,593,371. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 21,507 shares of company stock worth $802,400. Corporate insiders own 1.19% of the company’s stock.

BankUnited Price Performance

NYSE:BKU opened at $34.74 on Thursday. BankUnited, Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.84 and a 12 month high of $39.51. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $36.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market cap of $2.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.97 and a beta of 1.33.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $250.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $243.65 million. BankUnited had a return on equity of 7.76% and a net margin of 8.41%. The business’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.78 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that BankUnited, Inc. will post 2.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 11th. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays upped 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on BankUnited from $34.50 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on BankUnited from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wedbush upped their price target on BankUnited from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on BankUnited from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BankUnited presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.80.

About BankUnited

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.