Schroder Investment Management Group Boosts Stock Position in Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. $ITUB

Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its holdings in shares of Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 74,529,975 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 3,511,303 shares during the quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group owned approximately 0.69% of Itau Unibanco worth $546,305,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in Itau Unibanco by 11.7% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 445,578 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,450,000 after acquiring an additional 46,608 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Itau Unibanco by 28.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,996,699 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,482,000 after purchasing an additional 1,107,607 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Itau Unibanco by 132.7% during the 2nd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 34,883 shares of the bank’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 19,892 shares during the last quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. lifted its stake in Itau Unibanco by 27.7% in the 2nd quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. now owns 46,125 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $313,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Itau Unibanco by 10.6% in the 2nd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 36,711 shares of the bank’s stock worth $249,000 after buying an additional 3,512 shares during the last quarter.

Itau Unibanco Stock Down 1.3%

ITUB stock opened at $8.15 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.61. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $8.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $7.51. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. has a 12 month low of $4.91 and a 12 month high of $9.60. The company has a market cap of $90.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.58, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.63.

Itau Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $8.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.98 billion. Itau Unibanco had a net margin of 20.64% and a return on equity of 20.83%. As a group, analysts forecast that Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Itau Unibanco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a special dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.068 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 23rd. Itau Unibanco’s payout ratio is presently 4.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ITUB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Itau Unibanco from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Zacks Research upgraded Itau Unibanco from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Itau Unibanco in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $9.00.

Itau Unibanco Profile

Itaú Unibanco SA (NYSE: ITUB) is a Brazilian banking and financial services conglomerate headquartered in São Paulo. The company was formed by the merger of Banco Itaú and Unibanco in 2008 and is one of the largest private-sector banks in Brazil and among the leading banks in Latin America. Itaú Unibanco is publicly listed in Brazil and maintains an international listing on the New York Stock Exchange.

The bank offers a full range of financial products and services across retail, commercial and wholesale banking.