Sapient Capital LLC Makes New $186,000 Investment in Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB)

Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 26,856 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $186,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 296.9% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 153,645 shares of the bank’s stock worth $877,000 after acquiring an additional 114,929 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Itaú Unibanco by 48.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 34,975 shares of the bank’s stock worth $199,000 after buying an additional 11,468 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in Itaú Unibanco by 41.4% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 37,984,762 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $216,894,000 after buying an additional 11,129,486 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Itaú Unibanco in the first quarter worth about $103,000. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL increased its position in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 31.0% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 35,013 shares of the bank’s stock worth $200,000 after acquiring an additional 8,285 shares in the last quarter.

Itaú Unibanco Price Performance

NYSE ITUB opened at $6.13 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.58. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $6.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $6.42. Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. has a 52-week low of $4.85 and a 52-week high of $7.27.

Itaú Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.19. The firm had revenue of $7.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.05 billion. Itaú Unibanco had a net margin of 10.48% and a return on equity of 17.76%. Research analysts anticipate that Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Itaú Unibanco Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.003 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 2nd. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. Itaú Unibanco’s payout ratio is 5.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on ITUB. Bank of America upgraded shares of Itaú Unibanco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $8.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. HSBC lowered Itaú Unibanco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th.

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.