Sei Investments Co. Increases Position in BankUnited, Inc. $BKU

Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 13.3% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 264,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 30,999 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in BankUnited were worth $11,945,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in BankUnited by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,472 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in BankUnited by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its stake in BankUnited by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 17,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $767,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 24.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 2.4% in the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 19,550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $746,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the period. 99.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BKU. Zacks Research cut BankUnited from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of BankUnited from $53.00 to $50.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of BankUnited from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of BankUnited from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of BankUnited from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BankUnited presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.00.

Insider Activity at BankUnited

In related news, insider Jay D. Richards sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.67, for a total transaction of $194,680.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 40,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,971,232.34. This represents a 8.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $45,970.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 15,027 shares in the company, valued at $690,791.19. This trade represents a 6.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BankUnited Stock Up 1.2%

BankUnited stock opened at $46.64 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.78 and a beta of 1.17. BankUnited, Inc. has a 52 week low of $34.79 and a 52 week high of $52.11. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $47.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by ($0.03). BankUnited had a net margin of 14.76% and a return on equity of 9.13%. The company had revenue of $284.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $290.33 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that BankUnited, Inc. will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 10th were paid a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 10th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.16%.

BankUnited Company 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.