Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. Purchases Shares of 486,959 BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 486,959 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $17,745,000. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. owned about 0.65% of BankUnited as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of BankUnited by 307.6% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 1,455 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in BankUnited in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $74,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 17.4% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $169,000 after acquiring an additional 686 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of BankUnited during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $181,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of BankUnited during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $169,000. Institutional investors own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

BankUnited Price Performance

Shares of BKU stock opened at $42.07 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $37.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.58. BankUnited, Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.34 and a 52-week high of $44.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.24 and a beta of 1.33.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $515.24 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $258.65 million. BankUnited had a net margin of 9.06% and a return on equity of 8.09%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that BankUnited, Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, October 11th were issued a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 11th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.76%. BankUnited’s payout ratio is 47.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on BKU shares. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of BankUnited from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on BankUnited from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Barclays upped their price objective on BankUnited from $35.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $37.00 target price on shares of BankUnited in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BankUnited currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jay D. Richards sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.18, for a total transaction of $102,950.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 34,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,428,410.66. This trade represents a 6.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Thomas M. Cornish sold 10,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.11, for a total transaction of $421,527.58. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,911,000. This trade represents a 9.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.