Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 49,443 Shares of BankUnited, Inc. $BKU

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lowered its position in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 39.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 77,150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 49,443 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned 0.10% of BankUnited worth $2,944,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Summit Global Investments bought a new stake in shares of BankUnited during the 3rd quarter worth about $698,000. Capital Fund Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of BankUnited in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,356,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in BankUnited by 24.7% in the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 575,878 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,495,000 after purchasing an additional 113,974 shares during the period. TrueMark Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of BankUnited in the third quarter valued at about $6,334,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of BankUnited during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $6,121,000. 99.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BankUnited news, insider Jay D. Richards sold 3,506 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.83, for a total transaction of $174,703.98. Following the transaction, the insider owned 35,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,778,283.21. The trade was a 8.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

BankUnited Stock Performance

BKU opened at $50.63 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.30 and a beta of 1.30. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $46.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.83. BankUnited, Inc. has a 1 year low of $28.21 and a 1 year high of $52.11.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $288.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $279.76 million. BankUnited had a return on equity of 9.09% and a net margin of 14.14%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. Equities analysts expect that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th were given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 9th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. BankUnited’s payout ratio is currently 35.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on BKU. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Raymond James Financial set a $55.00 price target on BankUnited in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Barclays increased their price objective on BankUnited from $47.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.45.

BankUnited Profile

BankUnited, Inc is a bank holding company based in Miami Lakes, Florida, operating through its subsidiary BankUnited, National Association. The company provides a broad range of commercial banking products and services, including deposit accounts, commercial lending and treasury management. It serves middle-market and small-business clients, offering tailored financing solutions across a variety of industry sectors.

The bank’s lending portfolio includes commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate loans and construction financing, as well as residential mortgage lending.