Northern Trust Corp Buys 127,159 Shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU - Free Report) by 17.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 875,450 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 127,159 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 1.17% of BankUnited worth $33,416,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC increased its position in BankUnited by 48.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 183,240 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,677,000 after purchasing an additional 59,644 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of BankUnited by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 56,974 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,097,000 after buying an additional 2,856 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of BankUnited by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 103,208 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,950,000 after buying an additional 1,595 shares during the period. Harbour Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BankUnited during the 4th quarter worth approximately $292,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of BankUnited by 462.0% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 27,955 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,067,000 after buying an additional 22,981 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.70% of the company's stock.

BankUnited Price Performance

NYSE:BKU traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $36.37. The stock had a trading volume of 165,025 shares, compared to its average volume of 792,685. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $33.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.80 and a beta of 1.29. BankUnited, Inc. has a one year low of $26.78 and a one year 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.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $255.41 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $264.35 million. BankUnited had a return on equity of 8.48% and a net margin of 11.48%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th were issued a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. This is an increase from BankUnited's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 11th. BankUnited's payout ratio is 38.51%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Sanjiv Sobti purchased 2,000 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $32.07 per share, for a total transaction of $64,140.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,782 shares in the company, valued at $666,478.74. This represents a 10.65% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Leslie Lunak sold 22,776 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.56, for a total value of $764,362.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 59,899 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,010,210.44. This represents a 27.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.15% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on BankUnited from $50.00 to $42.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on BankUnited from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. StockNews.com cut BankUnited from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Hovde Group cut their target price on BankUnited from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded BankUnited from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $41.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BankUnited currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $40.55.

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.