CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Lowers Stock Position in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co reduced its position in shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 84,550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,448 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned 0.11% of BankUnited worth $3,227,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in shares of BankUnited during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,416,000. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in BankUnited during the fourth quarter worth $216,000. Barclays PLC boosted its position in BankUnited by 74.1% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 318,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,174,000 after purchasing an additional 135,718 shares during the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in BankUnited by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 7,802 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $298,000 after purchasing an additional 495 shares during the period. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of BankUnited by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 19,411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $741,000 after purchasing an additional 2,093 shares during the last quarter. 99.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BankUnited Stock Down 0.3 %

BKU stock opened at $33.56 on Friday. BankUnited, Inc. has a twelve month low of $26.70 and a twelve month high of $44.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.53 billion, a PE ratio of 10.90 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.32.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.19. BankUnited had a net margin of 11.48% and a return on equity of 8.48%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.26 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.69%. This is a boost from BankUnited’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKU has been the subject of several research reports. Hovde Group reduced their price target on shares of BankUnited from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of BankUnited from $50.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays dropped their price objective on BankUnited from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com downgraded BankUnited from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised BankUnited from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $41.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.18.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,234 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.18, for a total transaction of $113,772.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $430,955. The trade was a 20.89 % 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 the SEC website. Also, Director Sanjiv Sobti bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $32.83 per share, for a total transaction of $32,830.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 21,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $715,103.06. This represents a 4.81 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

BankUnited Company 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.