Franklin Resources Inc. Buys 11,062 Shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 19.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 68,036 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 11,062 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in BankUnited were worth $2,597,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 182.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of BankUnited by 42.3% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. 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 worth $74,000 after buying an additional 1,407 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in BankUnited during the fourth quarter worth about $113,000. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its stake in BankUnited by 87.8% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,028 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $154,000 after acquiring an additional 1,883 shares during the period. 99.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on BKU. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of BankUnited from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of BankUnited from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Piper Sandler upgraded BankUnited from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $41.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Hovde Group reduced their price objective on BankUnited from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, BankUnited has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.18.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Sanjiv Sobti acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $32.83 per share, for a total transaction of $32,830.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,782 shares in the company, valued at $715,103.06. This trade represents a 4.81 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,234 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was 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 $430,955. This trade represents 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 owned by company insiders.

BankUnited Price Performance

NYSE:BKU opened at $29.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $2.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.62 and a beta of 1.20. BankUnited, Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.34 and a 52 week high of $44.45. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.59.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share 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 prior year, the business earned $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is a positive change from BankUnited’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio is 40.26%.

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.