Bank of America Corp DE Grows Stake in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU - Free Report) by 32.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 562,417 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 136,343 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.75% of BankUnited worth $21,467,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC grew its position in BankUnited by 48.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 183,240 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,677,000 after buying an additional 59,644 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of BankUnited by 462.0% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 27,955 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,067,000 after acquiring an additional 22,981 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BankUnited by 182.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 847 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of BankUnited by 87.8% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,028 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $154,000 after purchasing an additional 1,883 shares in the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new position in BankUnited in the 4th quarter worth $113,000. 99.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BankUnited Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of BKU opened at $36.10 on Tuesday. BankUnited, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $26.78 and a fifty-two week high of $44.45. 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's fifty day moving average is $33.20 and its 200 day moving average is $37.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.72 billion, a PE ratio of 11.72 and a beta of 1.29.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $255.41 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $264.35 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.64 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th were issued a $0.31 dividend. This is a boost from BankUnited's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 11th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. BankUnited's payout ratio is 38.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on BankUnited from $50.00 to $42.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of BankUnited from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of BankUnited from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Hovde Group lowered their target price on shares of BankUnited from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on BankUnited from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. 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, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $40.55.

Insider Activity at BankUnited

In other news, CFO Leslie Lunak sold 22,776 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.56, for a total transaction of $764,362.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 59,899 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,010,210.44. This trade represents a 27.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Sanjiv Sobti purchased 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $32.07 per share, for a total transaction of $64,140.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 20,782 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $666,478.74. The trade was a 10.65% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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