Vanguard Group Inc. Has $366.39 Million Stock Position in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,598,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 181,493 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 12.84% of BankUnited worth $366,392,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BKU. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 182.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in BankUnited by 270.6% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 1,407 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in BankUnited during the 4th quarter valued at $113,000. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of BankUnited by 87.8% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,028 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $154,000 after buying an additional 1,883 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,063 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $193,000 after buying an additional 426 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other BankUnited news, Director Sanjiv Sobti acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $32.83 per share, for a total transaction of $32,830.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 21,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $715,103.06. This trade represents a 4.81 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,234 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.18, for a total value of $113,772.12. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $430,955. The trade was a 20.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BankUnited Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BKU opened at $34.55 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.22 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a 50-day moving average of $37.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.99. BankUnited, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.34 and a fifty-two week high of $44.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

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 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 last year, the company posted $0.26 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.59%. This is a boost from BankUnited’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. BankUnited’s payout ratio is presently 40.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BKU. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on BankUnited from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of BankUnited from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $41.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of BankUnited from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered BankUnited from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.45.

About BankUnited

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.