Lazard Asset Management LLC Has $10.93 Million Holdings in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 29.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 286,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 64,803 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in BankUnited were worth $10,933,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of BankUnited by 12.9% in 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 acquiring an additional 322,368 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP increased its stake in shares of BankUnited by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,149,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,889,000 after acquiring an additional 36,328 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of BankUnited in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,525,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of BankUnited by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 875,450 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,416,000 after acquiring an additional 127,159 shares during the last quarter. 99.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Hovde Group lowered their price target on BankUnited from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Barclays lowered their target price on BankUnited from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Piper Sandler raised BankUnited from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $41.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on BankUnited from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on BankUnited from $50.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.55.

BankUnited Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE:BKU opened at $36.10 on Thursday. BankUnited, Inc. has a twelve month low of $26.78 and a twelve month high of $44.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $32.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.13. The company has a market cap of $2.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.72 and a beta of 1.29.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last released its quarterly 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. BankUnited had a return on equity of 8.48% and a net margin of 11.48%. The firm had revenue of $255.41 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $264.35 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 11th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.43%. This is an increase from BankUnited’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio is 38.51%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,234 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now owns 12,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $430,955. This represents a 20.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Leslie Lunak sold 22,776 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.56, for a total value of $764,362.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 59,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,010,210.44. The trade was a 27.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

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.