Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 1,769 Shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund decreased its position in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 42,657 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,769 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned 0.06% of BankUnited worth $1,383,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BKU. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in BankUnited in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,067,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted 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 worth $372,000 after buying an additional 2,834 shares during the last quarter. River Oaks Capital LLC lifted its position in BankUnited by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. River Oaks Capital LLC now owns 34,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $783,000 after buying an additional 6,000 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in BankUnited by 23.9% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 27,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $616,000 after buying an additional 5,235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in BankUnited by 482.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 285,754 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,487,000 after buying an additional 236,706 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BankUnited news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 2,285 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,750 shares in the company, valued at $319,365. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

BankUnited Price Performance

BKU opened at $27.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.88. BankUnited, Inc. has a 52-week low of $15.83 and a 52-week high of $34.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.04 billion, a PE ratio of 11.75 and a beta of 1.36. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $26.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.16.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last posted 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 analysts’ expectations of $239.84 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.70 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be issued a $0.29 dividend. This is an increase from BankUnited’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.26%. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio is 50.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BKU. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on BankUnited from $33.00 to $31.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Barclays began coverage on BankUnited in a research report on Friday, March 8th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $29.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group downgraded BankUnited from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $29.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 8th. StockNews.com downgraded BankUnited from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Wedbush lowered their price objective on BankUnited from $34.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BankUnited has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.50.

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.