Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $1.49 Million in BankUnited, Inc. $BKU

Key Points

• Louisiana State Employees Retirement System initiated a new position in BankUnited, buying 32,900 shares valued at about $1.49 million in the first quarter. Several other hedge funds also increased or started positions, and institutional investors now own 99.70% of the stock.
• Two BankUnited insiders sold shares recently: Director John N. Digiacomo sold 1,000 shares, and insider Jay D. Richards sold 4,000 shares. The company says insiders currently hold about 1.00% of the stock.
• BankUnited reported Q1 EPS of $0.83, missing analyst expectations, while revenue also came in below forecasts. The bank also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.33 per share and analysts currently view the stock as a Moderate Buy with a consensus price target of $52.82.

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 32,900 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,486,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in BankUnited by 169.2% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 173,249 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,824,000 after buying an additional 108,888 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of BankUnited in the 4th quarter valued at $63,000. DGS Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BankUnited in the fourth quarter worth about $225,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in BankUnited in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $383,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV purchased a new stake in BankUnited during the 4th quarter worth $240,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.70% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BankUnited news, Director John N. Digiacomo sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.97, for a total value of $45,970.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 15,027 shares of the company's stock, valued at $690,791.19. The trade was a 6.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jay D. Richards sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.67, for a total transaction of $194,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 40,502 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,971,232.34. This represents a 8.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BankUnited Stock Performance

Shares of BKU stock opened at $48.47 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.50 and a beta of 1.17. BankUnited, Inc. has a 1-year low of $34.79 and a 1-year high of $52.11. 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 stock's fifty day simple moving average is $47.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.73.

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

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. BankUnited's payout ratio is currently 36.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKU has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Zacks Research raised BankUnited from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of BankUnited in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of BankUnited from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, March 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BankUnited presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $52.82.

About BankUnited

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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