Cerity Partners LLC Sells 6,419 Shares of Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB)

Cerity Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. (NYSE:ITUB) by 8.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 66,228 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 6,419 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Itaú Unibanco were worth $360,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Itaú Unibanco by 117.4% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 51,044,340 shares of the bank’s stock worth $253,180,000 after buying an additional 27,559,997 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 5.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 50,829,515 shares of the bank’s stock worth $338,016,000 after acquiring an additional 2,604,304 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Itaú Unibanco by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 48,018,726 shares of the bank’s stock worth $238,173,000 after acquiring an additional 4,151,459 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in Itaú Unibanco by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 39,658,215 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $196,705,000 after purchasing an additional 1,286,014 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Itaú Unibanco by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 28,389,460 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $140,812,000 after purchasing an additional 489,873 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports 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 research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Itaú Unibanco from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $6.18 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $6.27.

Itaú Unibanco Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of ITUB opened at $5.87 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The business has a fifty day moving average of $5.41 and a 200 day moving average of $5.24. The company has a market cap of $63.28 billion, a PE ratio of 7.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.65. Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. has a 52-week low of $4.42 and a 52-week high of $6.30.

Itaú Unibanco (NYSE:ITUB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The bank reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.01). Itaú Unibanco had a net margin of 12.25% and a return on equity of 19.46%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. will post 0.8 EPS for the current year.

Itaú Unibanco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 19th were given a dividend of $0.0527 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 19th. This is a positive change from Itaú Unibanco’s previous dividend of $0.00. Itaú Unibanco’s payout ratio is 2.82%.

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.