Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC Sells 651 Shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC reduced its holdings in shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 56,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 651 shares during the quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in BankUnited were worth $1,823,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BKU. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of BankUnited by 106.4% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,879 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in BankUnited by 16.4% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 10,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $231,000 after buying an additional 1,434 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in BankUnited by 29.4% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 13,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $300,000 after buying an additional 3,003 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in BankUnited by 20.9% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 16,373 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $372,000 after buying an additional 2,834 shares during the period. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new position in BankUnited in the 3rd quarter worth about $387,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on BKU shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of BankUnited from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group cut BankUnited from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $29.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, January 8th. Barclays assumed coverage on BankUnited in a research note on Friday, March 8th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $29.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on BankUnited from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of BankUnited from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.50.

Insider Transactions at BankUnited

In other BankUnited news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 2,285 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.18, for a total transaction of $62,106.30. Following the completion of 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.19% of the company’s stock.

BankUnited Stock Down 0.5 %

BankUnited stock traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $27.45. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 126,672 shares, compared to its average volume of 889,785. BankUnited, Inc. has a 52-week low of $15.83 and a 52-week high of $34.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.90 and a beta of 1.36. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.11.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.02. BankUnited had a net margin of 8.71% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The business had revenue of $508.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $239.84 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.70 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that BankUnited, Inc. will post 2.73 EPS for the current year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. This is a positive change from BankUnited’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.23%. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

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.