Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys Shares of 37,200 BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 37,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,206,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System owned 0.05% of BankUnited at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its position in shares of BankUnited by 2.8% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 40,891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $928,000 after buying an additional 1,125 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 16.4% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 10,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 1,434 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 1.0% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 163,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,714,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 106.4% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,879 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $126,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 20.9% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 16,373 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $372,000 after purchasing an additional 2,834 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at BankUnited

In related news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 2,285 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.18, for a total value of $62,106.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $319,365. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BankUnited Stock Performance

Shares of BKU stock opened at $27.44 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.11. The company has a market cap of $2.05 billion, a PE ratio of 11.83 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. BankUnited, Inc. has a 12-month low of $15.83 and a 12-month high of $34.22.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.02. BankUnited had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 8.71%. The firm had revenue of $508.35 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $239.84 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.70 EPS. Analysts expect that BankUnited, Inc. will post 2.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th will be given a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.23%. This is an increase from BankUnited’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BKU has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on BankUnited from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Wedbush reduced their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $34.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of BankUnited from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group downgraded shares of BankUnited from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $29.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.50.

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.