Walleye Capital LLC Invests $320,000 in BankUnited, Inc. $BKU

Key Points

• Walleye Capital LLC acquired a new stake in BankUnited, purchasing 9,300 shares valued at approximately $320,000 during the first quarter.
• BankUnited recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.91, surpassing estimates and demonstrating a year-over-year increase from $0.72 EPS.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.31 per share, reflecting a 3.2% dividend yield and a payout ratio of 36.36%.

Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 9,300 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $320,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in BankUnited in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,398,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in BankUnited by 3.8% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,461,439 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $50,332,000 after acquiring an additional 53,905 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in shares of BankUnited by 45.5% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 46,351 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,580,000 after acquiring an additional 14,484 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its stake in BankUnited by 64.2% during the 1st quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 91,378 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,147,000 after buying an additional 35,738 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of BankUnited by 893.2% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,150,879 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $39,636,000 after acquiring an additional 1,035,002 shares during the period. 99.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on BKU. Hovde Group increased their price objective on shares of 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. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on BankUnited in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "hold" rating and a $39.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $41.55.

Insider Activity at BankUnited

In other news, insider Jay D. Richards sold 3,942 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.81, for a total value of $152,989.02. Following the sale, the insider owned 39,193 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,521,080.33. The trade was a 9.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Douglas J. Pauls sold 3,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.79, for a total transaction of $135,765.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 43,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,675,921.95. This represents a 7.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.15% of the company's stock.

BankUnited Price Performance

Shares of BankUnited stock traded down $0.21 during trading on Monday, hitting $38.77. The stock had a trading volume of 162,855 shares, compared to its average volume of 800,198. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market cap of $2.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.37 and a beta of 1.29. BankUnited, Inc. has a 12 month low of $28.21 and a 12 month high of $44.45. The business's 50-day moving average is $37.64 and its 200 day moving average is $35.22.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $273.93 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $267.17 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.72 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 11th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 11th. BankUnited's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.36%.

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.