Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 303,903 Shares of Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. $ITUB

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 30,539,369 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 303,903 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Itau Unibanco were worth $224,159,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ITUB. MAI Capital Management bought a new position in Itau Unibanco during the 2nd quarter valued at about $41,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Itau Unibanco by 332.4% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,966 shares of the bank’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 5,355 shares during the period. First Horizon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Itau Unibanco in the third quarter worth approximately $60,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Itau Unibanco by 17.5% during the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 12,022 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 1,790 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mondrian Investment Partners LTD bought a new position in Itau Unibanco during the third quarter valued at approximately $90,000.

Itau Unibanco Stock Performance

ITUB opened at $8.10 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $8.44 and its 200 day moving average is $7.54. 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 company has a market cap of $89.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.50, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.63. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. has a 12-month low of $4.97 and a 12-month high of $9.60.

Itau Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $8.62 billion for 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.8 EPS for the current year.

Itau Unibanco Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a special dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, March 23rd will be issued a $0.068 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 23rd. Itau Unibanco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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