O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 68.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,449 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 31,365 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in BankUnited were worth $552,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of BKU. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of BankUnited by 40.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 275,556 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,041,000 after purchasing an additional 78,753 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in shares of BankUnited in the 3rd quarter worth about $5,302,000. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in shares of BankUnited by 194.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 193,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,035,000 after purchasing an additional 127,415 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in shares of BankUnited in the 3rd quarter worth about $315,000. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of BankUnited in the 3rd quarter worth about $347,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at BankUnited

In other BankUnited news, Director Sanjiv Sobti purchased 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $32.07 per share, for a total transaction of $64,140.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 20,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $666,478.74. This trade represents a 10.65 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,234 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.18, for a total value of $113,772.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $430,955. The trade was a 20.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

BankUnited Trading Up 9.8 %

Shares of NYSE:BKU opened at $32.37 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $35.91 and a 200 day moving average of $37.67. The company has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a PE ratio of 10.51 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. BankUnited, Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.34 and a 12-month high of $44.45.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 8.48% and a net margin of 11.48%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This is an increase from BankUnited’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.83%. BankUnited’s payout ratio is 40.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler raised BankUnited from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $41.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on BankUnited from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on BankUnited from $50.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Hovde Group decreased their target price on BankUnited from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on BankUnited from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.18.

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.