Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Lowers Holdings in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lessened its stake in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 20.6% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 293,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 76,294 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in BankUnited were worth $10,120,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BKU. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in BankUnited by 182.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 547 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 42.3% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in BankUnited by 165.5% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,885 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 1,175 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of BankUnited during the 4th quarter worth approximately $73,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 270.6% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 1,407 shares in the last quarter. 99.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BKU. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of BankUnited from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of BankUnited from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on BankUnited in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a “hold” rating and a $39.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of BankUnited from $50.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of BankUnited from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.42.

BankUnited Stock Performance

BankUnited stock opened at $33.68 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $33.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. BankUnited, Inc. has a twelve month low of $26.88 and a twelve month high of $44.45. The company has a market cap of $2.53 billion, a PE ratio of 10.94 and a beta of 1.30.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $255.41 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $264.35 million. BankUnited had a return on equity of 8.48% and a net margin of 11.48%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.64 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The business 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 was Friday, April 11th. This is a positive change from BankUnited’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.68%. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BankUnited

In related news, Director John N. Digiacomo sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.43, for a total transaction of $34,430.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 14,516 shares in the company, valued at $499,785.88. This represents a 6.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Leslie Lunak sold 22,776 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.56, for a total transaction of $764,362.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 59,899 shares in the company, valued at $2,010,210.44. This represents a 27.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.15% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BankUnited Profile

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.