GSA Capital Partners LLP Acquires 31,742 Shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Key Points

• GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its stake in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 386.2% during the first quarter, holding nearly 40,000 shares valued at approximately $1.37 million.
• BankUnited's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $0.91, surpassing analysts' expectations, while the company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.31 with a yield of 3.29%.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for BankUnited, with Wells Fargo setting a new target of $45.00 and the overall consensus price target at $41.55.

GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its position in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU - Free Report) by 386.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,961 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 31,742 shares during the quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP owned 0.05% of BankUnited worth $1,376,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in BankUnited by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,598,953 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $366,392,000 after acquiring an additional 181,493 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 12.9% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,821,480 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $107,696,000 after purchasing an additional 322,368 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP lifted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,250,997 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $43,084,000 after purchasing an additional 101,170 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in BankUnited by 36.8% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,059,697 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $36,496,000 after buying an additional 285,092 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in BankUnited in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,525,000. 99.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Hovde Group boosted their price target on BankUnited from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Citigroup upped their target price on BankUnited from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on BankUnited from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on BankUnited from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $41.55.

BankUnited Stock Down 2.1%

Shares of BKU traded down $0.76 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $35.71. The company had a trading volume of 982,354 shares, compared to its average volume of 798,775. The company has a market capitalization of $2.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.47 and a beta of 1.32. BankUnited, Inc. has a 52 week low of $28.21 and a 52 week high of $44.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $35.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.75.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.12. BankUnited had a return on equity of 9.00% and a net margin of 13.19%. The firm had revenue of $273.93 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $267.17 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.72 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 11th were paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 11th. BankUnited's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Leslie Lunak sold 22,776 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 59,899 shares in the company, valued at $2,010,210.44. This trade represents a 27.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jay D. Richards sold 3,942 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.81, for a total value of $152,989.02. Following the transaction, the insider owned 39,193 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,521,080.33. The trade was a 9.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 31,218 shares of company stock worth $1,087,547. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.