Nordea Investment Management AB Grows Stock Position in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 103,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,595 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in BankUnited were worth $3,950,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BankUnited in the 2nd quarter valued at $74,000. CWM LLC lifted its position in BankUnited by 118.3% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $153,000 after buying an additional 2,280 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in BankUnited during the second quarter worth about $169,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of BankUnited by 17.4% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $169,000 after acquiring an additional 686 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BankUnited in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $181,000. 99.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $37.00 price objective on shares of BankUnited in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush lifted their price objective on BankUnited from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Barclays cut their price objective on BankUnited from $45.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded BankUnited from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $38.00 to $48.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Compass Point boosted their price target on shares of BankUnited from $42.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $42.60.

BankUnited Stock Down 4.4 %

BKU stock opened at $36.89 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $39.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.12 and a beta of 1.38. BankUnited, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.34 and a fifty-two 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.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $515.24 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $258.65 million. BankUnited had a net margin of 9.06% and a return on equity of 8.09%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that BankUnited, Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 10th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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