James Investment Research Inc. Acquires New Holdings in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

James Investment Research Inc. bought a new position in shares of 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 7,103 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $245,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in BankUnited by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,598,953 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $366,392,000 after purchasing an additional 181,493 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,821,480 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $107,696,000 after buying an additional 322,368 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 36.8% during the first 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. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of BankUnited during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,525,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of BankUnited by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 875,450 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $33,416,000 after acquiring an additional 127,159 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on BKU. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Hovde Group lowered their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of BankUnited from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of BankUnited from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on BankUnited from $50.00 to $42.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $40.58.

BankUnited Stock Performance

NYSE BKU traded up $0.06 during trading on Friday, reaching $37.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 826,869 shares, compared to its average volume of 790,610. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $35.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.74. BankUnited, Inc. has a 12 month low of $28.21 and a 12 month high of $44.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.80 and a beta of 1.29.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $255.41 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $264.35 million. BankUnited had a net margin of 12.26% and a return on equity of 8.66%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 11th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 11th. BankUnited's payout ratio is 38.51%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John N. Digiacomo sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.43, for a total transaction of $34,430.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 14,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $499,785.88. This trade represents a 6.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Leslie Lunak sold 22,776 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.56, for a total transaction of $764,362.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 59,899 shares in the company, valued at $2,010,210.44. The trade was a 27.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.15% of the company's stock.

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.