Baird Financial Group Inc. Buys Shares of 11,554 BankUnited, Inc. $BKU

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group Inc. purchased 11,554 shares of BankUnited, Inc. valued at approximately $398,000 in the first quarter, indicating growing institutional interest in the company.
• Insider Jay D. Richards sold 3,942 shares at an average price of $38.81, resulting in a 9.14% decrease in his ownership stake.
• BankUnited's stock recently achieved an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.91 for the last quarter, beating the consensus estimate by $0.12, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.31 per share.

Baird Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 11,554 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $398,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of BankUnited by 9.8% during the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 8,117 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $280,000 after purchasing an additional 726 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its stake in shares of BankUnited by 14,050.0% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 849 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 843 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of BankUnited by 165.5% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,885 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 1,175 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of BankUnited by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 42,446 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,620,000 after purchasing an additional 1,611 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of BankUnited by 8.7% during the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 20,974 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $722,000 after purchasing an additional 1,682 shares in the last quarter. 99.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at BankUnited

In other news, insider Jay D. Richards sold 3,942 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.81, for a total transaction of $152,989.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 39,193 shares in the company, valued at $1,521,080.33. The trade was a 9.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 3,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.79, for a total value of $135,765.00. Following the sale, the director owned 43,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,675,921.95. This represents a 7.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.15% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKU has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on BankUnited from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Citigroup lifted their price target on BankUnited from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on BankUnited from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $43.00 target price (up from $41.00) on shares of BankUnited in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on BankUnited in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "hold" rating and a $39.00 target price on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BankUnited currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $41.75.

BankUnited Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE BKU opened at $38.61 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $2.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.32 and a beta of 1.29. BankUnited, Inc. has a 52 week low of $28.21 and a 52 week high of $44.45. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $37.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $273.93 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $267.17 million. BankUnited had a return on equity of 9.00% and a net margin of 13.19%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 11th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 11th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. BankUnited's payout ratio is currently 36.36%.

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.

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