Quantbot Technologies LP Purchases New Position in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 55,640 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,124,000. Quantbot Technologies LP owned about 0.07% of BankUnited as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 182.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 847 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in BankUnited by 270.6% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,927 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 1,407 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in BankUnited in the 4th quarter worth about $113,000. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in BankUnited by 87.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,028 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $154,000 after acquiring an additional 1,883 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in BankUnited by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,063 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $193,000 after acquiring an additional 426 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.70% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity at BankUnited

In other news, Director Sanjiv Sobti acquired 2,000 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $32.07 per share, with a total value of $64,140.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,782 shares of the company's stock, valued at $666,478.74. This trade represents a 10.65 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,234 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.18, for a total value of $113,772.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,955. The trade was a 20.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BKU has been the subject of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Hovde Group dropped their price target on BankUnited from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on BankUnited from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Compass Point boosted their price target on BankUnited from $42.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $43.45.

BankUnited Price Performance

BKU stock traded down $0.27 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $35.20. The company's stock had a trading volume of 385,497 shares, compared to its average volume of 706,330. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.43 and a beta of 1.40. 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 12 month low of $24.34 and a 12 month high of $44.45. The company has a 50 day moving average of $37.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.03.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.19. 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 company posted $0.26 EPS. On average, analysts expect that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.52%. This is a boost from BankUnited's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. BankUnited's dividend payout ratio is 37.66%.

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.