Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) Shares Sold by Wealth Alliance

Wealth Alliance lowered its position in shares of Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) by 13.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 55,176 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 8,535 shares during the quarter. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Itaú Unibanco were worth $274,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC purchased a new position in Itaú Unibanco during the 3rd quarter worth $1,215,000. State Street Corp raised its position in Itaú Unibanco by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,522,486 shares of the bank’s stock worth $83,899,000 after buying an additional 861,500 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Itaú Unibanco by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 50,829,515 shares of the bank’s stock worth $338,016,000 after buying an additional 2,604,304 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in Itaú Unibanco by 23.2% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 25,586 shares of the bank’s stock worth $169,000 after buying an additional 4,823 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Itaú Unibanco by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,899,587 shares of the bank’s stock worth $174,930,000 after buying an additional 346,390 shares during the last quarter.

Itaú Unibanco Stock Performance

Shares of ITUB opened at $5.73 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The company has a market capitalization of $56.11 billion, a PE ratio of 7.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.95. Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. has a 52-week low of $4.86 and a 52-week high of $7.07.

Itaú Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The bank reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.01). Itaú Unibanco had a net margin of 12.25% and a return on equity of 19.46%. Equities research analysts predict that Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Itaú Unibanco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.058 per share. This is an increase from Itaú Unibanco’s previous dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 19th. Itaú Unibanco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on ITUB. HSBC upgraded shares of Itaú Unibanco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $6.80 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Itaú Unibanco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Itaú Unibanco from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Itaú Unibanco to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Itaú Unibanco has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $6.90.

About Itaú Unibanco

Itaú Unibanco Holding SA offers a range of financial products and services to individuals and corporate customers in Brazil and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Retail Banking, Wholesale Banking, and Activities with the Market + Corporation. It offers current account; loans; credit and debit cards; investment and commercial banking services; real estate lending services; financing and investment services; economic, financial and brokerage advisory; and leasing and foreign exchange services.