Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Acquires New Shares in BankUnited, Inc. $BKU

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 47,911 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,135,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BKU. Artemis Investment Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of BankUnited during the 4th quarter valued at $73,655,000. HoldCo Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of BankUnited during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,752,000. UBS Group AG raised its stake in shares of BankUnited by 398.0% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,170,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,164,000 after purchasing an additional 935,370 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of BankUnited by 23.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,070,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $117,183,000 after purchasing an additional 576,843 shares during the period. Finally, Jain Global LLC bought a new stake in shares of BankUnited during the 3rd quarter valued at $11,224,000. 99.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BankUnited Price Performance

BankUnited stock opened at $46.38 on Friday. BankUnited, Inc. has a 52 week low of $33.06 and a 52 week high of $52.11. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 1.19.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.14). BankUnited had a return on equity of 9.11% and a net margin of 14.46%.The business had revenue of $273.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $284.57 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that BankUnited, Inc. will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 10th were given a dividend of $0.33 per share. This is a boost from BankUnited’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 10th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded BankUnited from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 23rd. Weiss Ratings lowered BankUnited from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on BankUnited from $53.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on BankUnited from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Zacks Research cut BankUnited from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.27.

Insider Activity at BankUnited

In other news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,447 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.11, for a total transaction of $162,388.17. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 11,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $541,765. This represents a 23.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

About BankUnited

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.