Xponance Inc. Invests $207,000 in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Xponance Inc. acquired a new position in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 5,415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new stake in BankUnited in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $434,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of BankUnited by 40.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 275,556 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,041,000 after buying an additional 78,753 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 211.5% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 59,594 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,172,000 after buying an additional 40,461 shares during the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC increased its position in shares of BankUnited by 91.3% in the 3rd quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 20,216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $737,000 after acquiring an additional 9,650 shares during the period. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC raised its stake in BankUnited by 172.5% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 26,464 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $964,000 after acquiring an additional 16,751 shares during the last quarter. 99.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on BKU. Compass Point boosted their price target on BankUnited from $42.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of BankUnited from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of BankUnited from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Hovde Group decreased their target price on shares of BankUnited from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. One investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BankUnited has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.45.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,234 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.18, for a total transaction of $113,772.12. Following the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Sanjiv Sobti acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $32.83 per share, with a total value of $32,830.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $715,103.06. The trade was a 4.81 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.19% of the company’s stock.

BankUnited Stock Down 3.0 %

BKU stock opened at $34.15 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $37.69 and its 200 day moving average is $38.01. The firm has a market cap of $2.55 billion, a PE ratio of 11.09 and a beta of 1.40. BankUnited, Inc. has a one year low of $24.34 and a one year high of $44.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.86.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. This is a boost from BankUnited’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. BankUnited’s payout ratio is presently 37.66%.

BankUnited Company 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.