Citigroup Inc. Sells 104,469 Shares of BankUnited, Inc. $BKU

Citigroup Inc. reduced its stake in shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 47.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 116,336 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 104,469 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc. owned approximately 0.15% of BankUnited worth $4,439,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BKU. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in BankUnited in the first quarter worth about $9,100,000. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC raised its holdings in BankUnited by 57.1% in the second quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 621,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,122,000 after purchasing an additional 225,867 shares in the last quarter. TrueMark Investments LLC purchased a new position in BankUnited during the third quarter valued at $6,334,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of BankUnited during the 3rd quarter valued at $6,121,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of BankUnited by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,977,999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $70,397,000 after buying an additional 128,728 shares during the period. 99.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BankUnited news, insider Jay D. Richards sold 3,506 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.83, for a total value of $174,703.98. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 35,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,778,283.21. This trade represents a 8.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sanjiv Sobti sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.88, for a total transaction of $254,400.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $957,358.08. The trade was a 20.99% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKU has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Raymond James Financial set a $55.00 price target on BankUnited in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of BankUnited in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on BankUnited from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.55.

BankUnited Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BKU opened at $47.34 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market cap of $3.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.37 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.79. BankUnited, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $28.21 and a fifty-two week high of $52.11.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.09. BankUnited had a net margin of 14.14% and a return on equity of 9.09%. The firm had revenue of $260.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $279.76 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.91 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 9th were paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 9th. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.03%.

BankUnited Company 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.