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

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) 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) 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.