BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) Shares Purchased by Royce & Associates LP

Royce & Associates LP raised its stake in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,149,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,328 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned about 1.54% of BankUnited worth $43,889,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vestcor Inc raised its position in BankUnited by 127.7% in the 4th quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 17,416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $665,000 after purchasing an additional 9,766 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its position in BankUnited by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 147,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,615,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in BankUnited in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,668,000. AlphaQuest LLC raised its position in BankUnited by 261.6% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 81,853 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,124,000 after purchasing an additional 59,215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its position in BankUnited by 186.9% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 37,752 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,456,000 after purchasing an additional 24,592 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

BankUnited Trading Up 4.5 %

NYSE:BKU opened at $34.46 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $38.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.17. BankUnited, Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.34 and a 52-week high of $44.45. The company has a market capitalization of $2.58 billion, a PE ratio of 11.19 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.19. BankUnited had a return on equity of 8.48% and a net margin of 11.48%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th were paid a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.37%. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BankUnited

In related news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,234 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.18, for a total value of $113,772.12. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,250 shares in the company, valued at $430,955. The trade was a 20.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Sanjiv Sobti purchased 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 purchase, the director now owns 20,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $666,478.74. This represents a 10.65 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKU has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on BankUnited from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on BankUnited from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on BankUnited from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on BankUnited from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Compass Point raised their target price on BankUnited from $42.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.18.

BankUnited 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.