Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP Increases Stock Position in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 32.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,651 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,622 shares during the period. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP’s holdings in BankUnited were worth $534,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. CWM LLC increased its position in BankUnited by 307.6% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,928 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 1,455 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in BankUnited during the 2nd quarter worth about $74,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in BankUnited during the 2nd quarter worth about $169,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in BankUnited by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $169,000 after purchasing an additional 686 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new position in BankUnited in the 2nd quarter valued at about $175,000. 99.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at BankUnited

In other BankUnited news, insider Jay D. Richards sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.18, for a total value of $102,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 34,687 shares in the company, valued at $1,428,410.66. This represents a 6.72 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Thomas M. Cornish sold 10,778 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.11, for a total transaction of $421,527.58. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,911,000. This trade represents a 9.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

BankUnited Stock Performance

BankUnited stock opened at $42.68 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $3.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.49 and a beta of 1.33. BankUnited, Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.34 and a 12 month high of $44.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $37.26 and its 200-day moving average is $34.25.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.07. BankUnited had a net margin of 9.06% and a return on equity of 8.09%. The firm had revenue of $515.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $258.65 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.63 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that BankUnited, Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, October 11th were given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 11th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. BankUnited’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of BankUnited from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Citigroup cut their price target on BankUnited from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on BankUnited from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded BankUnited from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $38.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $37.00 price target on shares of BankUnited in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.70.

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.