Comerica Bank Has $1.22 Million Holdings in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Comerica Bank lifted its stake in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 13.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,052 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,878 shares during the period. Comerica Bank’s holdings in BankUnited were worth $1,223,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BKU. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in BankUnited by 182.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in BankUnited by 42.3% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in BankUnited by 270.6% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,927 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 1,407 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in BankUnited during the 4th quarter valued at $113,000. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in BankUnited by 87.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,028 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $154,000 after purchasing an additional 1,883 shares in the last quarter. 99.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BankUnited Stock Down 1.5%

NYSE:BKU opened at $33.88 on Monday. BankUnited, Inc. has a 12-month low of $26.78 and a 12-month high of $44.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.00 and a beta of 1.29. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.14.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. BankUnited had a return on equity of 8.48% and a net margin of 11.48%. The business had revenue of $255.41 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $264.35 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.64 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

BankUnited Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 11th were given a $0.31 dividend. This is a positive change from BankUnited’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 11th. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BKU has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Hovde Group dropped their price target on BankUnited from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on BankUnited from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Barclays dropped their price target on BankUnited from $44.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on BankUnited from $38.00 to $34.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on BankUnited from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.55.

Insider Transactions at BankUnited

In other BankUnited news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,234 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.18, for a total transaction of $113,772.12. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,955. The trade was a 20.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Leslie Lunak sold 22,776 shares of BankUnited stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.56, for a total value of $764,362.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 59,899 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,010,210.44. This represents a 27.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

BankUnited Company Profile

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.