Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. Purchases 106,942 Shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. grew its holdings in shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU - Free Report) by 22.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 593,901 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing 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 position. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. owned approximately 0.79% of BankUnited worth $22,669,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of BankUnited by 182.3% in 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 period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in BankUnited by 42.3% in 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 during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in BankUnited by 270.6% during 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 bought a new stake in BankUnited during the fourth quarter valued at about $113,000. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of BankUnited by 87.8% in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.70% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BankUnited news, Director Sanjiv Sobti bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 21,782 shares in the company, valued at $715,103.06. This represents a 4.81 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,234 shares of BankUnited 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 of the company's stock, valued at $430,955. This represents a 20.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.15% of the company's stock.

BankUnited Price Performance

Shares of BKU traded down $0.20 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $33.10. The company had a trading volume of 456,242 shares, compared to its average volume of 785,929. The company's 50-day moving average is $32.93 and its 200-day moving average is $37.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a market capitalization of $2.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.75 and a beta of 1.29. BankUnited, Inc. has a twelve month low of $26.78 and a twelve month high of $44.45.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. BankUnited had a return on equity of 8.48% and a net margin of 11.48%. The company had revenue of $255.41 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $264.35 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th were given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 11th. This is a positive change from BankUnited's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. BankUnited's payout ratio is 38.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on BankUnited from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on BankUnited from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Hovde Group dropped their target price 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of BankUnited from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of BankUnited from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One investment 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 MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $40.55.

About BankUnited

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.