Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Purchases 39,521 Shares of BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE:BKU) by 62.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 102,501 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 39,521 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned approximately 0.14% of BankUnited worth $3,912,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new stake in shares of BankUnited in the 4th quarter worth about $266,000. Royce & Associates LP lifted its stake in shares of BankUnited by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,149,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,889,000 after purchasing an additional 36,328 shares during the last quarter. Vestcor Inc boosted its holdings in shares of BankUnited by 127.7% in the 4th quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 17,416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $665,000 after purchasing an additional 9,766 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of BankUnited by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 147,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,615,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in BankUnited during the 4th quarter valued at $3,668,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on BKU shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of BankUnited from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of BankUnited from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Piper Sandler raised shares of BankUnited from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Compass Point boosted their target price on BankUnited from $42.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded BankUnited from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.45.

Insider Activity

In other BankUnited news, insider Kevin A. Malcolm sold 3,234 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.18, for a total transaction of $113,772.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,250 shares in the company, valued at $430,955. This represents a 20.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Sanjiv Sobti bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $32.83 per share, for a total transaction of $32,830.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $715,103.06. This represents a 4.81 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.19% of the company’s stock.

BankUnited Trading Down 0.3 %

BKU opened at $35.63 on Wednesday. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $37.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.04. The company has a market capitalization of $2.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.57 and a beta of 1.40. BankUnited, Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.34 and a 52 week high of $44.45.

BankUnited (NYSE:BKU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.19. BankUnited had a return on equity of 8.48% and a net margin of 11.48%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.26 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that BankUnited, Inc. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

BankUnited Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 10th were given a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. BankUnited’s payout ratio is presently 37.66%.

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.