Dark Forest Capital Management LP Increases Stock Position in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Dark Forest Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU - Free Report) by 147.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 22,056 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 13,149 shares during the quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP's holdings in BankUnited were worth $842,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in BankUnited by 182.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 847 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 410 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,407 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of BankUnited in the fourth quarter worth approximately $113,000. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its position in 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 buying an additional 1,883 shares during the period. 99.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sanjiv Sobti bought 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $32.83 per share, with a total value of $32,830.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,782 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $715,103.06. This trade represents a 4.81 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

BankUnited Price Performance

Shares of BKU stock traded down $0.57 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $32.61. The stock had a trading volume of 143,608 shares, compared to its average volume of 785,677. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $33.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.29. BankUnited, Inc. has a one year low of $26.70 and a one year high of $44.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.59 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

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

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. This is a positive change from BankUnited's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. BankUnited's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective 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. Piper Sandler raised BankUnited from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $41.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of BankUnited from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BankUnited presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $41.91.

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.