581,636 BankUnited, Inc. $BKU Shares Sold by Artemis Investment Management LLP

Artemis Investment Management LLP decreased its stake in shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 22.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,959,811 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 581,636 shares during the period. Artemis Investment Management LLP’s holdings in BankUnited were worth $82,704,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BKU. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of BankUnited during the 2nd quarter valued at about $518,492,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of BankUnited in the 2nd quarter worth about $46,177,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of BankUnited during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,831,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in BankUnited in the 2nd quarter worth about $16,051,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in BankUnited during the 2nd quarter worth $8,741,000. 99.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on BKU shares. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of BankUnited in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded BankUnited from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. Raymond James Financial reduced their price objective on BankUnited from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Hovde Group dropped their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 14th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of BankUnited from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BankUnited currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.91.

BankUnited Price Performance

BKU traded up $0.37 on Thursday, hitting $42.63. 230,159 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 888,007. BankUnited, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.10 and a fifty-two week high of $52.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.64 and a beta of 1.20. The business’s fifty day moving average is $45.44 and its 200 day moving average is $46.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by ($0.03). BankUnited had a net margin of 14.76% and a return on equity of 9.13%. The business had revenue of $284.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $290.33 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.91 earnings per share. BankUnited’s revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Investors of record on Friday, October 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 9th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.16%.

Insider Activity

In other BankUnited news, Director Douglas Pauls sold 3,000 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.90, for a total value of $143,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 42,472 shares in the company, valued at $2,034,408.80. The trade was a 6.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About BankUnited

BankUnited, Inc (NYSE:BKU) is the bank holding company for BankUnited, N.A., a regional financial institution headquartered in Miami Lakes, Florida. The bank serves businesses, professionals, institutions and individual consumers through a range of commercial and personal banking products.

BankUnited’s offerings include commercial and industrial lending, commercial real estate financing, residential mortgage warehouse lending, consumer loans, checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, and treasury management services.