Renaissance Technologies LLC Sells 59,800 Shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Renaissance Technologies LLC trimmed its position in shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 38.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 93,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 59,800 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in BankUnited were worth $3,584,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BKU. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in BankUnited by 12.9% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,821,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $107,696,000 after purchasing an additional 322,368 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of BankUnited by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,598,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $366,392,000 after buying an additional 181,493 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of BankUnited during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,668,000. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in BankUnited by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 530,938 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,266,000 after acquiring an additional 80,995 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in BankUnited by 22.5% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 403,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,383,000 after acquiring an additional 74,000 shares in the last quarter. 99.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on BKU shares. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of BankUnited from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com cut BankUnited from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Royal Bank of Canada increased 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. Piper Sandler raised BankUnited from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $41.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Hovde Group lowered 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $42.18.

Insider Transactions at BankUnited

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

BankUnited Stock Up 4.0 %

BKU stock opened at $31.86 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $34.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.37. The company has a market cap of $2.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.34 and a beta of 1.20. BankUnited, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $26.70 and a fifty-two week 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is an increase from BankUnited’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.89%. BankUnited’s payout ratio is presently 40.26%.

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.