Aristotle Capital Boston LLC Reduces Stock Position in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Aristotle Capital Boston LLC trimmed its stake in shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 9.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 726,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 73,648 shares during the period. Aristotle Capital Boston LLC’s holdings in BankUnited were worth $27,746,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKU. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 322,368 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in BankUnited by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 15,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $579,000 after acquiring an additional 593 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in BankUnited by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 362,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,836,000 after purchasing an additional 10,064 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of BankUnited during the 4th quarter valued at about $766,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of BankUnited by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,598,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $366,392,000 after purchasing an additional 181,493 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at BankUnited

In other BankUnited news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,234 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $113,772.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,250 shares in the company, valued at $430,955. This trade represents a 20.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Sanjiv Sobti acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $32.83 per share, for a total transaction of $32,830.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 21,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $715,103.06. This represents a 4.81 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

BankUnited Trading Up 1.9 %

BKU stock opened at $33.84 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.78 and a 1-year high of $44.45. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.21. The company has a market capitalization of $2.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.99 and a beta of 1.20.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $255.41 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $264.35 million. BankUnited had a net margin of 11.48% and a return on equity of 8.48%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This is a positive change from BankUnited’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 11th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on BKU shares. Barclays dropped their price objective 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. Hovde Group cut their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on BankUnited from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on BankUnited from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on BankUnited from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.55.

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.