Aristotle Capital Boston LLC Decreases Position in BankUnited, Inc. $BKU

Aristotle Capital Boston LLC lowered its stake in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 2.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 509,646 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 12,866 shares during the quarter. Aristotle Capital Boston LLC’s holdings in BankUnited were worth $19,448,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in BankUnited in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in shares of BankUnited during the third quarter worth $34,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BankUnited by 202.0% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,217 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 814 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in BankUnited by 7,588.9% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,384 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 1,366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in BankUnited by 4,293.5% during the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 1,331 shares in the last quarter. 99.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BankUnited Stock Performance

Shares of BankUnited stock opened at $42.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. BankUnited, Inc. has a 1 year low of $28.21 and a 1 year high of $52.11. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.11. The firm has a market cap of $3.15 billion, a PE ratio of 12.08 and a beta of 1.29.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.09. BankUnited had a return on equity of 9.09% and a net margin of 14.14%.The firm had revenue of $260.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $279.76 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.91 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Investors of record on Friday, January 9th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 9th. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.03%.

Insider Activity at BankUnited

In other BankUnited news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,447 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.11, for a total transaction of $162,388.17. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 11,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $541,765. This represents a 23.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Sanjiv Sobti sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.88, for a total transaction of $254,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 18,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $957,358.08. The trade was a 20.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 11,953 shares of company stock valued at $591,492. Corporate insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Zacks Research upgraded BankUnited from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on BankUnited from $48.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on BankUnited from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on BankUnited from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.55.

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.