Blue Trust Inc. Acquires 547 Shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 182.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 547 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in BankUnited were worth $31,000 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. CWM LLC grew its stake in BankUnited by 118.3% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $153,000 after buying an additional 2,280 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of BankUnited during the 3rd quarter worth $181,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in BankUnited by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,063 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $193,000 after acquiring an additional 426 shares in the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in BankUnited in the third quarter valued at $257,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in BankUnited during the third quarter valued at about $257,000. 99.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jay D. Richards sold 2,500 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.18, for a total transaction of $102,950.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 34,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,428,410.66. The trade was a 6.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BKU. Barclays cut their price objective on BankUnited from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on BankUnited from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of BankUnited from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.40.

BankUnited Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of BKU opened at $40.33 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.09 and a beta of 1.37. BankUnited, Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.34 and a twelve month high of $44.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.10.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.19. BankUnited had a net margin of 11.48% and a return on equity of 8.48%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.26 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.01 EPS for the current year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.66%.

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.