Lazard Asset Management LLC Buys 64,803 Shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU - Free Report) by 29.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 286,475 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 64,803 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned about 0.38% of BankUnited worth $10,933,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BKU. Barclays PLC increased its position in BankUnited by 48.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 183,240 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,677,000 after acquiring an additional 59,644 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in BankUnited by 5.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 56,974 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,097,000 after acquiring an additional 2,856 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in BankUnited by 462.0% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 27,955 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,067,000 after acquiring an additional 22,981 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in BankUnited by 182.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 847 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in BankUnited by 87.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,028 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $154,000 after acquiring an additional 1,883 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on BKU shares. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of BankUnited from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of BankUnited from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Hovde Group lowered their price target on shares of BankUnited from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of BankUnited from $50.00 to $42.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of BankUnited from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $40.55.

BankUnited Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:BKU opened at $36.10 on Thursday. BankUnited, Inc. has a 52 week low of $26.78 and a 52 week high of $44.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company's fifty day moving average is $32.96 and its 200-day moving average is $37.13. The company has a market capitalization of $2.72 billion, a PE ratio of 11.72 and a beta of 1.29.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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. BankUnited had a net margin of 11.48% and a return on equity of 8.48%. The company had revenue of $255.41 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $264.35 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.64 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th were paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 11th. This is an increase from BankUnited's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. BankUnited's payout ratio is currently 38.51%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Sanjiv Sobti purchased 2,000 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $32.07 per share, for a total transaction of $64,140.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $666,478.74. This represents a 10.65% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,234 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.18, for a total transaction of $113,772.12. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,955. This trade represents a 20.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

BankUnited Company Profile

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.

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