Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New $1.49 Million Investment in BankUnited, Inc. $BKU

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 32,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,486,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKU. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in BankUnited by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,632,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $206,472,000 after purchasing an additional 36,097 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of BankUnited by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,437,792 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $197,792,000 after buying an additional 149,450 shares in the last quarter. HoldCo Asset Management LP raised its position in BankUnited by 277.3% in the 4th quarter. HoldCo Asset Management LP now owns 3,535,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $157,568,000 after purchasing an additional 2,598,382 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of BankUnited by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,155,793 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $140,654,000 after acquiring an additional 84,971 shares during the period. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP acquired a new position in BankUnited during the 4th quarter valued at about $73,655,000. Institutional investors own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at BankUnited

In related news, Director John N. Digiacomo sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.97, for a total value of $45,970.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 15,027 shares in the company, valued at $690,791.19. This represents a 6.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jay D. Richards sold 4,000 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.67, for a total value of $194,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 40,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,971,232.34. This represents a 8.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

BankUnited Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE BKU opened at $48.47 on Friday. BankUnited, Inc. has a 52 week low of $34.79 and a 52 week high of $52.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.50 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $47.19 and its 200 day moving average is $46.73.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $273.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $284.57 million. BankUnited had a return on equity of 9.11% and a net margin of 14.46%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that BankUnited, Inc. will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 10th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio is 36.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on BankUnited from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Citigroup downgraded shares of BankUnited from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $50.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Hovde Group cut their target price on BankUnited from $57.00 to $53.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.82.

BankUnited Profile

BankUnited, Inc is a bank holding company based in Miami Lakes, Florida, operating through its subsidiary BankUnited, National Association. The company provides a broad range of commercial banking products and services, including deposit accounts, commercial lending and treasury management. It serves middle-market and small-business clients, offering tailored financing solutions across a variety of industry sectors.

The bank’s lending portfolio includes commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate loans and construction financing, as well as residential mortgage lending.