Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $12.84 Million Position in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its position in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 352,423 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 16,319 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in BankUnited were worth $12,842,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in BKU. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in BankUnited by 307.6% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 1,455 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of BankUnited in the second quarter valued at approximately $74,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of BankUnited in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $169,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in BankUnited by 17.4% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $169,000 after acquiring an additional 686 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new stake in BankUnited during the 2nd quarter valued at $175,000. Institutional investors own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on BankUnited from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of BankUnited from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $38.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $34.50 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $37.00 target price on shares of BankUnited in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at BankUnited

In related news, COO Thomas M. Cornish sold 10,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.11, for a total transaction of $421,527.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,911,000. The trade was a 9.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.19% of the company’s stock.

BankUnited Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:BKU opened at $40.71 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.68 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a 50 day moving average of $36.51 and a 200-day moving average of $33.65. BankUnited, Inc. has a one year low of $24.34 and a one year high of $41.65.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $515.24 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $258.65 million. BankUnited had a net margin of 9.06% and a return on equity of 8.09%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.63 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that BankUnited, Inc. will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, October 11th were issued a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 11th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.54%.

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.