BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) Holdings Lifted by Basswood Capital Management L.L.C.

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. boosted its holdings in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 22.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 593,901 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 106,942 shares during the quarter. BankUnited comprises about 1.3% of Basswood Capital Management L.L.C.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C.’s holdings in BankUnited were worth $22,669,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in BankUnited by 182.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of BankUnited by 42.3% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 270.6% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 1,407 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of BankUnited during the fourth quarter worth $113,000. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 87.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,028 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $154,000 after purchasing an additional 1,883 shares during the last quarter. 99.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at BankUnited

In related news, Director Sanjiv Sobti acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $32.83 per share, with a total value of $32,830.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 21,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $715,103.06. This trade represents a 4.81 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,234 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.18, for a total value of $113,772.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,250 shares in the company, valued at $430,955. The trade was a 20.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

BankUnited Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of BKU opened at $33.84 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a market cap of $2.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.99 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $33.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.20. BankUnited, Inc. has a 52-week low of $26.78 and a 52-week high of $44.45.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. BankUnited had a net margin of 11.48% and a return on equity of 8.48%. The business had revenue of $255.41 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $264.35 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.64 EPS. Analysts predict that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th were paid a $0.31 dividend. This is a boost from BankUnited’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 11th. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.51%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays cut their price objective on BankUnited from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of BankUnited from $50.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Hovde Group lowered their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on BankUnited from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered BankUnited from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BankUnited has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.55.

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.