BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) Shares Sold by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP cut its stake in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,584,913 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 95,148 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.06% of BankUnited worth $175,008,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKU. 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 acquiring an additional 547 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of BankUnited by 42.3% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew 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 bought a new position in BankUnited in the 4th quarter worth approximately $113,000. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in BankUnited by 87.8% in 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. 99.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at BankUnited

In other news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,234 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.18, for a total value of $113,772.12. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,250 shares in the company, valued at $430,955. This represents a 20.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Sanjiv Sobti purchased 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $32.07 per share, with a total value of $64,140.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.19% of the company’s stock.

BankUnited Trading Up 3.6 %

Shares of BKU opened at $33.02 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $33.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.72 and a beta of 1.20. BankUnited, Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.70 and a 1-year high of $44.45.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 earned $0.26 EPS. Analysts expect that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.76%. This is a boost from BankUnited’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 11th. BankUnited’s payout ratio is presently 40.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BKU has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on BankUnited from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of BankUnited from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of BankUnited from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of BankUnited from $50.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Hovde Group decreased their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.18.

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.