William Blair Investment Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB)

William Blair Investment Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) by 67.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,098,139 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 28,955,558 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Itaú Unibanco were worth $69,922,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its holdings in Itaú Unibanco by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 27,876 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $138,000 after buying an additional 1,925 shares during the last quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in Itaú Unibanco by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC now owns 17,106 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 2,001 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Itaú Unibanco by 16.9% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,556 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $103,000 after buying an additional 2,250 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Itaú Unibanco by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 19,819 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 3,089 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management increased its holdings in Itaú Unibanco by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 44,738 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $222,000 after buying an additional 3,405 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Itaú Unibanco to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group raised shares of Itaú Unibanco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, HSBC raised 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 note on Monday, January 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Itaú Unibanco currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $6.90.

Itaú Unibanco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ITUB opened at $6.27 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $5.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The stock has a market cap of $61.40 billion, a PE ratio of 8.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.97. Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. has a 1 year low of $4.86 and a 1 year high of $7.03.

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

Itaú Unibanco Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 19th were paid a dividend of $0.058 per share. This is a boost from Itaú Unibanco’s previous dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. Itaú Unibanco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.56%.

Itaú Unibanco Profile

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.