Boothbay Fund Management LLC Acquires Shares of 95,214 BankUnited, Inc. $BKU

Boothbay Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 95,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,633,000. Boothbay Fund Management LLC owned approximately 0.13% of BankUnited at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BKU. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in BankUnited by 23.5% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in BankUnited by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 22,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $849,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of BankUnited by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $196,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank raised its position in shares of BankUnited by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 21,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $832,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of BankUnited by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 23,826 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $909,000 after buying an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. 99.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on BKU shares. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of BankUnited from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Susquehanna raised shares of BankUnited to a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating on shares of BankUnited in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Raymond James Financial set a $55.00 price objective on shares of BankUnited in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of BankUnited from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BankUnited presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.55.

BankUnited Stock Up 0.7%

BKU stock opened at $43.08 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.17 billion, a PE ratio of 12.17 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.16. BankUnited, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $28.21 and a fifty-two week high of $52.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.09. BankUnited had a net margin of 14.14% and a return on equity of 9.09%. The firm had revenue of $260.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $279.76 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

BankUnited Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 9th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 9th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. BankUnited’s payout ratio is currently 35.03%.

Insider Transactions at BankUnited

In other BankUnited news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,447 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.11, for a total transaction of $162,388.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 11,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $541,765. The trade was a 23.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jay D. Richards sold 3,506 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.83, for a total value of $174,703.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 35,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,778,283.21. The trade was a 8.95% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 11,953 shares of company stock worth $591,492. Company insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

BankUnited Company Profile

BankUnited, Inc is a bank holding company based in Miami Lakes, Florida, operating through its subsidiary BankUnited, National Association. The company provides a broad range of commercial banking products and services, including deposit accounts, commercial lending and treasury management. It serves middle-market and small-business clients, offering tailored financing solutions across a variety of industry sectors.

The bank’s lending portfolio includes commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate loans and construction financing, as well as residential mortgage lending.