Stifel Financial Corp Cuts Stock Position in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Stifel Financial Corp decreased its stake in shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,384 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,229 shares during the quarter. Stifel Financial Corp owned about 0.07% of BankUnited worth $1,885,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in shares of BankUnited by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $274,000 after acquiring an additional 932 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 44,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,710,000 after purchasing an additional 1,791 shares in the last quarter. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC purchased a new position in shares of BankUnited in the fourth quarter worth $18,663,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in shares of BankUnited during the fourth quarter valued at $2,416,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in shares of BankUnited during the fourth quarter valued at $216,000. 99.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,234 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.18, for a total value of $113,772.12. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $430,955. The trade was a 20.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sanjiv Sobti bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $32.83 per share, with a total value of $32,830.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 21,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $715,103.06. The trade was a 4.81 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on BKU shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of BankUnited from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Hovde Group dropped their target price on shares of BankUnited from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of BankUnited from $50.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on BankUnited from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded BankUnited from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $41.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.55.

BankUnited Stock Performance

Shares of BKU opened at $33.69 on Tuesday. BankUnited, Inc. has a 52 week low of $26.78 and a 52 week 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 stock has a market cap of $2.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.94 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.18.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $255.41 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $264.35 million. BankUnited had a net margin of 11.48% and a return on equity of 8.48%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. On average, analysts expect that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 11th were issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 11th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.68%. This is an increase from BankUnited’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.51%.

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.