Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Takes $5.66 Million Position in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC purchased a new position in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 174,444 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,657,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 83.4% in the fourth quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 2,918 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $99,000 after buying an additional 1,327 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in BankUnited by 106.4% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,879 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $126,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 347.0% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,558 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $157,000 after purchasing an additional 2,762 shares during the last quarter. Centiva Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of BankUnited during the second quarter valued at about $200,000. Finally, Prelude Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BankUnited in the second quarter worth about $211,000. Institutional investors own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at BankUnited

In other news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 2,285 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.18, for a total transaction of $62,106.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $319,365. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BKU. StockNews.com cut BankUnited from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Wedbush lowered their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $34.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of BankUnited from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of BankUnited from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on BankUnited from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.50.

BankUnited Trading Up 3.3 %

Shares of NYSE BKU opened at $26.73 on Friday. BankUnited, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $15.83 and a fifty-two week high of $34.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.88. The company has a market cap of $2.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.52 and a beta of 1.36. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $26.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.99.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.02. BankUnited had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 8.71%. The company had revenue of $508.35 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $239.84 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.70 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that BankUnited, Inc. will post 2.73 earnings per share for the current year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This is a positive change from BankUnited’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.34%. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.00%.

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.