Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Acquires 20,400 Shares of Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) by 25.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 101,339 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,400 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Itaú Unibanco were worth $704,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its position in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 1.7% in the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 95,992,864 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $515,482,000 after purchasing an additional 1,613,409 shares during the period. Westwood Global Investments LLC increased its holdings in Itaú Unibanco by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Westwood Global Investments LLC now owns 63,473,083 shares of the bank’s stock worth $340,850,000 after acquiring an additional 1,746,682 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its holdings in Itaú Unibanco by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 23,221,327 shares of the bank’s stock worth $124,699,000 after acquiring an additional 76,541 shares during the period. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd increased its holdings in Itaú Unibanco by 67.4% during the 3rd quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 20,816,099 shares of the bank’s stock worth $111,366,000 after acquiring an additional 8,381,232 shares during the period. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its holdings in Itaú Unibanco by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 15,034,066 shares of the bank’s stock worth $104,487,000 after acquiring an additional 440,486 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ITUB. HSBC lowered shares of Itaú Unibanco from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Bank of America raised shares of Itaú Unibanco from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $8.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 16th.

Itaú Unibanco Trading Down 1.6 %

ITUB stock opened at $6.11 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.58. Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. has a one year low of $4.85 and a one year high of $7.27. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $6.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.45.

Itaú Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19. The company had revenue of $7.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.05 billion. Itaú Unibanco had a net margin of 10.48% and a return on equity of 17.76%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.82 EPS for the current year.

Itaú Unibanco Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. Itaú Unibanco’s payout ratio is currently 5.88%.

Itaú Unibanco Company 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.