BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. Takes $7.80 Million Position in BankUnited, Inc. $BKU

BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. purchased a new stake in shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 175,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $7,800,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new position in shares of BankUnited during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of BankUnited during the first quarter valued at $28,000. Quarry LP boosted its stake in BankUnited by 158.2% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 940 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 576 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in BankUnited by 202.0% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,217 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 814 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in BankUnited by 4,293.5% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 1,331 shares in the last quarter. 99.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,447 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.11, for a total transaction of $162,388.17. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 11,500 shares in the company, valued at $541,765. The trade was a 23.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

BankUnited Trading Down 1.4%

NYSE:BKU opened at $45.76 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. BankUnited, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.06 and a fifty-two week high of $52.11. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $46.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.86. The stock has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a PE ratio of 12.75 and a beta of 1.17.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.14). BankUnited had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 9.11%. The business had revenue of $273.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $284.57 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.78 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that BankUnited, Inc. will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 10th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. This is a positive change from BankUnited’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BKU. Wall Street Zen raised BankUnited from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating on shares of BankUnited in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Citigroup dropped their price target on BankUnited from $53.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on 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, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on BankUnited from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BankUnited has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.27.

BankUnited Company Profile

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.