BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. Takes $7.80 Million Position in BankUnited, Inc. $BKU

Key Points

• BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. opened a new position in BankUnited, buying 175,000 shares worth about $7.8 million in the fourth quarter, giving it roughly 0.23% ownership.
• BankUnited reported Q1 earnings of $0.83 per share, which missed analyst expectations of $0.97, while revenue also came in below forecasts at $273.69 million.
• The bank raised its quarterly dividend to $0.33 per share from $0.31, but Wall Street remains cautious overall with a consensus Hold rating and average price target of $53.27.

BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. acquired a new stake in shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 175,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $7,800,000. BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. owned about 0.23% of BankUnited at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of BankUnited during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new stake in BankUnited during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Quarry LP increased its position in BankUnited by 158.2% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 940 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 576 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in BankUnited by 202.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,217 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 814 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in BankUnited by 4,293.5% during the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,362 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 1,331 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.70% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BankUnited news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,447 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.11, for a total value of $162,388.17. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 11,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $541,765. This trade represents a 23.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

BankUnited Stock Performance

BKU stock opened at $45.76 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.75 and a beta of 1.17. BankUnited, Inc. has a 12-month low of $33.06 and a 12-month high of $52.11. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $46.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.86.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $273.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $284.57 million. BankUnited had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 9.11%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that BankUnited, Inc. will post 4.16 EPS for the current year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 10th were given a $0.33 dividend. This is a boost from BankUnited's previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 10th. BankUnited's dividend payout ratio is 36.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on BKU shares. Hovde Group dropped their target price on shares of BankUnited from $57.00 to $53.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Citigroup decreased their price target on BankUnited from $53.00 to $50.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded BankUnited from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on BankUnited from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "sell" rating on shares of BankUnited in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $53.27.

BankUnited Company Profile

BankUnited, Inc is a bank holding company based in Miami Lakes, Florida, operating through its subsidiary BankUnited, National Association. The company provides a broad range of commercial banking products and services, including deposit accounts, commercial lending and treasury management. It serves middle-market and small-business clients, offering tailored financing solutions across a variety of industry sectors.

The bank's lending portfolio includes commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate loans and construction financing, as well as residential mortgage lending.

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